Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Can you believe how sweet Jeff is? I was so touched by his post below. He is the most amazing husband, father, and best friend a gal could ever ask for. Times may be tough, but never was there a marriage as strong and true as ours to get through it together.

Did you all know that my mom is in town? I am awfully sad that we're wrapping up her almost 3-week visit. On our first or second day together, we went out for lunch, and check out the fortune cookies we got! Her fortune is on top, mine is on bottom. So crazy!

We have such fun together, not to mention that she's been a tremendous help around the house. She's given me mani-pedis, I've played with her hair, and she's given me comfort when I've felt down. We've indulged, laughed, and hugged. She's played with Harper and cuddled with Norah. And one of the most fun things we did? On my birthday we got tattoos! I love you, mama.

My mom is the lead stroke for a competitive (whale boat) rowing team in California's Bay Area, where she's lived most of her life. The ocean is meaningful for her, as is the water design that I drew for her (first!) tattoo.

What is this nerdery? This is Chromosome 12, wrapped around my wrist. The location of the gene that causes Jeff and Norah's genetic change is highlighted in pink, and ID'd below the chromosome... along with a star for each of them. It amazes me that this little tiny thing has had such a big effect on our lives.  I might add to it at some point, getting further down to what the actual genetic change is, which is a tiny itty bitty amino acid. It represents a really challenging year, as well as an amazing future. They carry this genetic change with them always, and now I do too.

Sweet Tooth

It is quite unfortunate for my waistline growing belly that I've had a major sweet tooth during this pregnancy. Compared to my last pregnancy, I've gained much less weight so far, and I'd like to keep it that way. Alas, there are so many goodies calling my name.

Game of Thrones Lemon Cakes

Jeff and I have spent the last few months obsessed with George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. I won't go into details regarding the obsession, but we're in full geek-out mode. The first book has been made into an HBO series (yes, there is a reason it's on HBO and not basic cable, if you catch my drift). A big part of the series is the food. As a lacto-ovo vegetarian, I wouldn't touch most of it with someone else's fork, let alone my own. However, there are a few stand-outs for me. Most notable are the lemon cakes that are continuously mentioned throughout the series. HBO released an "official" recipe for them, and I've made them twice now. We certainly wouldn't have been without lemon cakes when the show premiered last night! It was a night for thumbs up all over the place. They may not be exactly what I imagined from the book, but they're definitely going to make regular appearances in our kitchen. They're fairly easy to make & require just a handful of simple ingredients. Let me know if you'd like to borrow my little ramekins!

Raspberry Jam Cookies

Harper adores Love is a Handful of Honey by Giles Andreae. It's a very sweet story with beautiful illustrations. On his favorite page, the little bear and his friends have a picnic with some of those delectable heart-shaped jam cookies. You know the ones I mean, right? So I picked up this recipe from the incomparable Martha Stewart. This recipe is great, and would have only been improved with my mother-in-law's infamous raspberry jam fresh from the garden. Harper had a great time "helping" mommy with the dough.

PC... Mac... or Both?!

Harper and I consider and discuss the age-old debate of PC vs. Mac.

Harper concludes that he shouldn't have to make a choice!

Thirty by Fourty

Yes, the rumors are true. On July 30th, I said farewell to my twenties and hello to my thirties. This kind of milestone can really get a gal thinking about her life journey. A decade is a long time, and I've decided to be more goal oriented about the things I fill my life with. I don't so much enjoy making lists as I do checking things off of them (who doesn't?!) so I've come up with the following specific things that I'd like to do by the time I turn (gulp) fourty. The list is a blend of short-term and long-term items. Below is my complete list (categorized but otherwise in no particular order).

Who else out there has a list like this? I'd love to hear if anyone else has done something like this before, and how it went/is going.

Thirty by Fourty

Crafts
 1.  Knit a sweater for myself
 2.  Knit a pair of socks for myself
 3.  Refinish a piece of furniture
 4.  Complete all of my unfinished quilts
 5.  Complete another oil painting (it's been years)
 6.  Knit something for myself with luscious boutique yarn
 7.  For at least one year, only give handmade gifts & cards to extended family/friends
 8.  Knit something lace with lace weight yarn
 9.  Complete our wedding scrapbook
10. Complete Harper's scrapbook
11. Complete five upcycle projects
12. Complete 10 crochet projects (I don't normally crochet, but I enjoy it)

ME ME ME!
 13. Lose more weight & get healthier
 14. Run/jog a charity 5k (this is a feat for me. I HATE running, though I wish I loved it)
 15. Take a real vacation
 16. Get that dreaded dental work done
 17. Read 10 classic novels that I haven't read yet
 18. Do something that's totally out of my comfort zone
 19. Do another 3-day juice fast
 20. Give Harper a brother or sister (#13 must happen first!)

Miss Shauna Homemaker
 21. Start a garden
 22. Organize my crafts
 23. Reduce our clutter at home
 24. Prepare a 5-course meal entirely made from scratch with farm/garden ingredients
 25. Select a room in the house, and completely redecorate it on a small budget

Other
 26. Complete a children's book with Jeff
 27. Attend a geekfeest (ie Comic-con, PAX, E3, Maker Faire, Stitches Expo, etc)
 28. Participate and win NaNoWriMo 3 more times
 29. Complete a final draft of one of my NaNoWriMo novels
 30. Do a HUGE donation of our old clothes, bedding, etc.

Happy Hearts

On Sunday morning, Jeff got up for work at his usual hour. I've been feeling crummy thanks to a cold that I can't seem to kick, so was coherent enough to be aware of his going through his typical morning routine. He left at his normal time. I was so sad because I had hoped that he was going to surprise me by taking the day off (he had previously told me that there was no vacation available for Valentine's day). But now, I was sure that he wouldn’t go through the early-morning charade just for fun. He sent me his standard message a bit before his shift start time saying that he made it to work (plus some mushy Valentine's day stuff, too). I was up changing Harper’s diaper, feeling so sick and so tired (Harper had woken early), when Jeff suddenly came through the bedroom door bearing gifts of comfort: coffee, doughnuts, and a sickie’s care package (cold medicine, cough drops, and cheez-its). A total wreck already, I started to cry. I couldn’t help it: I was so happy, and so relieved.

We had a great day. We enjoyed a lazy but fun morning with Harper (who ate two whole doughnuts), exchanged gifts, and enjoyed each other’s company. One of my most favorite things is when we pass time quietly during Harper's nap - Jeff with a video game or other geekery, and me with my knitting or other geekery. It may not sound like much to others, but it's blissful to us. Somehow, our separate activities feel very joined. After lunch, the three of us took a stroll at the park, where we enjoyed an unseasonably warm day; it was almost 50 degrees. All in all, it was a perfect day.

Fun Days

My brother Greg gave me a huge surprise when he visited last weekend... he brought our mom with him as a Mother's Day gift to both her and me. How sweet is that?! We had a wonderful time. Harper really enjoyed time with his "Ga" and "Ga" (what my mom said was "Grandma" as well as "Greg"). Below are some fun pix from dinner while they were here. He was squealing with delight while eating bits of peeled grapes, plain baked potato, and melons.


The following picture is one of our new favorites. The hat is a bit big, and you can't really see his great "Geek in Training" shirt, but who can resist this precious face?! Harper is such a happy, goofy, loving little boy. I wouldn't change a single thing about him, or the love that overflows in our happy little family.

jladsfjkasdfjasdfjklsadfjklas

The above was written by Harper, with no parental input or assistance. We're expecting a call from the NYTimes any day now...Harper now has an attraction to all things shiny, noisy and, well, everything! If it's within his grasp, or even when it's not, he's pulling a leaping' leaner in the direction of the object he so desires and won't quit until he gets his hands on said item, which inevitably ends up in his mouth. Luckily for Shauna, her laptop is a little too big for him to put in his mouth, so instead he happily bangs away on the keys, getting a kick out of the tactile feedback and noise it creates. Only pausing to turn and smile at us, and then he's back at it. We always knew he'd be a geek (hey, with parents like us, it was inevitable), we just didn't realize how quickly he'd head down that geeky path. Well, it is said that the 'Geek shall inherit the earth,' so the geekier the better, right? And of course it doesn't hurt that he's a dang cute lil' geek.

Oh, and don't worry about the fact that he's using a PC. Once he's old enough to be really dangerous with a computer, he'll be on a Mac :)

J

Nintendo Sixty-Fouuuuurrrr!...Er, MacBook Prooooo!

So yes, that's me. The goofy dude holding the spanking new Apple MacBook Pro that my wonderfully wonderful wife, Shauna, whom you can't see, gave me for my birthday! It was completely unexpected, but it was exactly what I have been wanting (well, besides an iPhone hehe, but we'll work on that). I guess it doesn't help that I work for the competitor haha. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view), we have expensive tastes when it comes to electronics. With school coming around the corner though, she knew that I'd need a laptop on the go and picked the perfect model.

She played it up pretty well I must say. Going on about how she wasn't able to find the right gift and that she'd try to make it up for me. I honestly thought I was getting some boxers. She even tricked me by giving me the new Lord Of The Rings book first and telling me that's all there was. Of course she wasn't really finished though. She told me she needed my help putting some of Harper's milk in the fridge and sitting at the top of the stairs was this heavily wrapped box. At first I thought it was Logan's so that he wouldn't feel bad about not getting a present hehe. Then I started to get suspicious once Shauna got our nice camera out and told me to sit down. I literally had no idea what was inside the box, and boy was I surprised once I found out!

Thanks for the wonderful birthday hunnee bunnee (and you too Harperpotamus)!

J

Very Merry Unbirthday To ME!

For those of you that weren't aware... I have the best husband in the universe! Despite my birthday being over a month away, he gave me an early birthday gift.

We've just about given up on my Alienware laptop (RIP) because of what we think is a dead motherboard (/cry). In the interim, I've been using Jeff's Powerbook when I want to comfortably compute in a place other than the computer desk. He's probably grown weary of my complaining about the processor/memory/incompatability of his Powerbook (heehee). I was truly surprised when he presented me with... (drumroll, please...)

...a new laptop! He knew that I'd want to have something of my own for both late and post pregnancy. I didn't want/need a monster like my Alienware, since I'd mostly be using it for internet and word processing, so this Dell Inspiron 1525 (with subtly stylish "Blossom Chill" pattern on the case) was a perfect choice! Muchas gracias, mi amor.

S

Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers!

Like Shauna said, I'm here to describe the momentous experience that was the ultrasound waiting room. Momentous you say? Yes, quite. You see, we weren't the only ones in the waiting room. There was the receptionist, some random couple, Bill Gates and his pregnant mistress, the janitor, another receptionist...BILL GATES!!! (click picture for maximum viewing pleasure). And we have the pictures to prove it! Shauna was laughing too hard, or the picture would have come out better. Plus, we had to be all discreet and everything, being a paparazzo is harder than it looks. How do we know it was Bill? For the doubters out there, take note of the crossed legs and hands on his knees, such Bill behavior. His eyes to the sky as he contemplates the wonders that will be Windows 7. So what was it like to be in the same room as the inventor of BASIC and Windows 95? In a word, productive. As soon as we got home we were both motivated to break out Word and Excel, nerding out until we could nerd no more.

PS-This is obviously not Bill Gates, and he obviously does not have a mistress. However, the below link is one of our favorites, and it really is Steve Ballmer, formerly known as Microsoft's second in command. Enjoy!

Developers!

J