Noah says, “Merry Christmas!”
Dec 242007
Yes, I know it’s 12/23. I’m a little late. We’ve been busy with this whole Christmas thing, plus the progesterone supplement I’m on makes me t.i.r.e.d. And Noah is sick, poor guy.
It’s still a fun project, even late, so here are the next 10 states:
- Hawaii: On the list of places I haven’t been, and I still regret that I didn’t go when Kevin and Erin were living there. Or for Christa’s wedding.
- Illinois: Growing up in Wisconsin, the first thing that comes to mind is FIB, but since that’s both negative and general, I’ll add my most recent significant association with the state. Early in my career, I was lucky enough to get to argue a case before the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which sits in Chicago. The oral argument was scheduled for days before Kevin and Erin’s wedding, so I had to pack for both and go directly to the airport from court. Also, I forgot to pack my shoes, which I was going to wear both during the argument and in the wedding.
- Indiana: I have to admit, Indiana has mostly been a drive-through state for me. Two real-life friends have ended up there (Purdue and IU) and more recently, I’ve become online friends with new Mama Frema.
- Iowa: Even though Iowa shares a border with Wisconsin, I never thought of it as nearby. My main personal memory is driving through it with my grandparents who lived (at the time) in…
- Kansas: Heh. See Above. The coolest thing about visiting my grandparents in suburban KC was neither the barbecue nor the music. It was the fact that they had a wholesale floral business that they ran out of their home, so their bedroom had a greenhouse attached. And they had a beautifully landscaped back yard full of brick paths that were perfect for children running in circles.
- Kentucky: On the way home from Kevin and Erin’s wedding, my flight was delayed in Cincinnati. The airline put us up in a dismal hotel in Kentucky. (Kevin & Erin show up in a lot of these locations!) Also, my first year of college, I was friends with a guy named Victor who was from
southernFloyds Knobs, Indiana, whose main social outlet in high school was the Kentuckiana Mensa Society. Don’t ask me why this belongs in the Kentucky section, it just does. - Louisiana: When I was 7 or 8, we went to New Orleans, probably for the ABA Annual Meeting. I was allowed to get one souvenir, and I made my choice too early, asking for a green and purple beribboned mask-on-a-stick. The next day, I saw a paper doll book of old-fashioned southern belles. My parents held firm.
- Maine: When I was 15 or 16, Maine was nearly the last state on the continental US that I’d still never visited. Dad decided he wanted to go to the Bay of Fundy, which has the most extreme tides in the world. On that trip, I also used my extensive knowledge (ha!) of extreme heavy metal to talk to some French Canadian teenage boys who were also camping nearby. Their English was only marginally better than my (non-existent) French, but fortunately as teenagers, we had the universal language of rebellious music.
- Maryland: I heart Maryland. Especially Takoma Park, but Baltimore will always have a soft spot too. If money were no object, it is entirely possible that Jill and I would buy a cute little cape cod in Takoma Park and live happily ever after. Preferably right around the corner from Levi and his moms.
- Massachusetts: I heart Massachusetts, too, but not enough to live there, even with the enticement of marriage. I graduated from college in Massachusetts (with Erin!), and lived there again for 6 months or so during the year after I graduated. Shortly after I moved back to Wisconsin, a bunch of my Wisconsin peeps moved there; Dave remains there still.
Dec 212007
I wrote a personal essay for New Beginnings, the La Leche League magazine, which was published in the Nov/Dec 2007 issue.
If you’re a member of LLL, that’s the issue that should have arrived at your house this week. Unfortunately, I don’t see it online.
Dec 182007
Ok, I’m sitting here finishing up my sandwich, and it HIT me.
If I don’t get pregnant this try, this one, the one today, the one in about 2 hours, we will be down to our LAST vial of The Frozen Chosen, aka, our donor. No more is available. We are 9th on the waiting list if it magically appears. The other people on the DSR who used him also want more.
And then we will have to make some big decisions. Try one last time with IUI & meds? Try IVF using all disposable income for 2008? Keep going after either of those options with a new donor & paying for everything out of pocket? (That last is only realistic if we use our last vial on our last insurance-covered IUI; the IVF is out of pocket and will empty the pockets.)
On Sunday morning, there were 2 follicles, a 21mm and a 17mm. 20-24 is considered mature, and they grow at 1-2mm/day. Yesterday we triggered their release, which takes 36-50 hours, so we should have 2 mature eggs doing their thing sometime between tonight and tomorrow morning, with swimmers there to greet them.
Please. Let this be the cycle where I get pregnant again. Where Noah gets to become a big brother.
I know we aren’t technically down to the wire, but I see the wire and it is much too close for comfort.
Dec 172007
Noah loves to jump and bounce.
His favorite place to bounce is in his crib, facing a corner, one hand holding each rail. Then he jumps and bounces with glee.
Yesterday, he wanted Mommy to bounce, too. Both mommies!
We gamely began to gently bounce up on our toes, but this was NOT what Noah had in mind. He was looking for full blown jumping mommies.
Each in our own way, we crossed our arms to keep uncomfortable bouncing to a minimum, and commenced to toddlerian enthusiastic bounces.
Until Noah paused.
And lay his hand over his chest.
While still jumping, only one-hand balancing the action, Noah looked quizzically up at us, like, “So this makes it even more fun? Great!”
We died laughing.
Dec 152007
It was a crazy busy week at work, and it looks like the excitement is going to flow right over into the weekend. I wonder when I’m going to make it to the post office to send my nephew his belated remaining Hanukkah presents.
On tap for today, Jill has a doctor’s appointment, we need groceries and christmas ornament hooks, and we have a playdate with Noah’s buddy Liam and his mommies.
Tomorrow, I have a doctor’s appointment at the crack of dawn in Timbuktu Tennessee the far-flung suburbs, then we have church, and in the evening, a going away bowling party for some of my laid-off colleagues who are moving to Pittsburgh. (Are you a Pittsburgh-area geek? Would you be willing to help my friends get oriented in their new city? Or help the one without a job yet find a job?)
Plus there’s the whole exhausting part of avoiding Noah stir-crazyness. I think we talked about having playdates with Noah’s BFF Kaylee and maybe also with his adorable classmate Maggie.
Fun, but not so much restful. What about you?
Here’s some additional Noah cuteness from Thursday, when he decided he wanted to wear his Halloween Clifford ears for 2 minutes.
Dec 142007
Sort of in the spirit of those “where have you traveled” memes, I’m going to spend the next few Fridays making lists of places I’ve traveled and some specific memory or association I have with each place.
I hope some of you will play along too. (It doesn’t have to be on Fridays.) If you haven’t gone to all of these places, say something about why/why not, what you hope to do if you do travel there, or what you associate with the place. No 2 word cop-out answers, please!
Today, 10 states, plus a bonus — the District of Columbia, in alphabetical order:
- Alabama: I don’t actually have any specific recollection of visiting Alabama. But seeing as I went on so many driving vacations with my parents as a child, that’s got to be when I’ve been there. I think we should do a weekend trip sometime soon, since it’s not a terrible drive. And I’ve always wanted to go to the Unclaimed Baggage Center.
- Alaska: Never been there, either. My Dad and I used to talk about driving the Alcan Highway. We better do that soon, Dad, or global warming will end our chances!
- Arizona: Ah, Arizona. Much of my favorite political organizing in grad school took place at a US Student Association annual meeting at Northern Arizona. Plus I drove through on my way home from California after September 11. It was in a Borders in Flagstaff that I realized all the maps in the US had been purchased by stuck people who decided to drive home earlier than I decided to drive home.
- Arkansas: On a trip with my grandparents when I was about 11, we went to some crazy theme park. It was based on a cartoon about southern hick characters, I think? EDITED TO ADD: Dogpatch, USA, the Lil’ Abner Theme Park. Thanks, Andrea!
- California: Where I was stuck September 11. Where many of my friends in the computer live. Where I met one of Levi’s Moms, while I was roommates with his other Mom.
- Colorado: My most memorable trip to Colorado is back when I was probably 9 or 10. We went to Mesa Verde and saw the cliff dwellings, and we went to Four Corners, where you can stand in Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico, all at the same time.
- Connecticut: Many, many, many flights in and out of Hartford “International” Airport during college….
- Delaware: My lovely wife and I spent our honeymoon at Rehoboth Beach. (Thanks again, Mikki, for lending us your condo!)
- District of Columbia: It always aggravates me to see DC left off of lists of states, although technically, it isn’t a state. And I prefer to see it here in the alphabet, rather than down at the end near Washington state. That’s where I lived for ~4 years (Capitol Hill & Shaw/Truxton Circle; not counting the year in Takoma Park, MD or the year in Reston, VA), where I bought my first house, where I met my lovely wife, and where we legally changed our names.
- Florida: My maternal grandparents moved to Florida when I was about 14. They lived in Eustis for a few years, and then moved to Lake Wales. My grandfather, uncle, and aunt still live in various parts of central Florida. Also, I celebrated my 21st birthday at Disney World. With my grandparents.
- Georgia: Home, home on the range. Where I never expected to be. Where Noah was born, where I have a nice home….
Anyone else want to play? Isabel, Reno, I’m especially looking at you! (I’ll move on to international locations once I’m done with the US.)
