32?! Seriously?!

Doo doo doo doo doo, today is my birthday!
Doo doo doo doo doo, happy birthday to me!
And all that Beatles stuff...

Ok, so I have to admit something. At first when I realized that last year was probably my last totally drunken birthday in a good long while, I was a little sad. I know. I know. Good things are in my not-too-distant future, but I assume it's only natural to mourn the passing of your past life when you're about to embark on big change. Mommyhood must be the mother of all big change so I think I should be forgiven for a momentary bout of sadness. But it was only momentary. All in all, I can't wait to start 32!

So back to this year's birthday. It was really pretty fantastic! Greg arranged a dinner last night with a few friends at Hyde Park Bar & Grill, a restaurant I had always heard such raves about and really wanted to try. The meal was delicious. Being preggo, I didn't feel even slightly guilty about devouring my chicken-fried steak - bonus! And I must say once again that I feel so incredibly lucky to be surrounded by such great friends here in Austin. I wish I could give them all a big, wet, sloppy kiss! But they might not want to be my friends if I did that on a regular basis so most of the time, I refrain.

Then today I was spoiled again. First came the bouquet - so pretty!


And then Greg prepared what is probably my most favorite meal in his repertoire - goat cheese salad and sauteed sea scallops. So yummy!


He also got me a full-length body pillow - just what every girl with a burgeoning belly desires.And I'm also getting an as-yet-to-be-chosen laptop computer. Yay! I just need to pick out what I want, and I will finally be mobile, something bound to come in handy if I should happen to be forced into bedrest and once the babies are here.

My husband... What can I say? At least I can give him big, wet, sloppy smooches...

What's In Mah Belly?

Would you look at that mid-section bulge! Could it be way too much turkey and stuffing from the holidays? A little over-indulgence on the Christmas puddings?

Well, yes... It's all of that.


BUT it's also BABY! Or more specifically, BABIES!

I'm pregnant! With twin boys!

Chances are that if you know me, this is old news. But I'm officially outing myself on the blog so in case you hadn't heard, SURPRISE!

Frequently asked questions:

1. How far along are you? Today I am 16 weeks and 6 days pregnant, well into the 2nd trimester.
2. Has it been awful? Actually, I've been amazingly lucky. No real morning sickness, only occasional nausea when I don't eat enough. The only real symptom I've suffered from is some pretty heavy-duty exhaustion. Greg has been an absolute super star about taking care of me & indulging in my every little craving. It's been awesome.
   
3. When are you due? Officially, I'm due June 29th. But twins tend to come about 4 weeks early so more realistically we're expecting to meet the little ones in late May to mid-June.
   
4. Are the boys identical or fraternal? There is a small chance that they could be identical, but it's much more likely that they're fraternal. We'll find out for sure (hopefully) at birth.
   
5. Do twins run in your families? Nope. I was on Clomid, a fertility drug that comes with a 7% higher chance of having multiples. Luckily for us, it worked on the first try. Really, really well...
   
6. Have you picked out names yet? Sorta. We've picked middle names. First names have been much more difficult. But we're keeping them top secret until the boys arrive. Sorry, Charlie.
   
7. Are you seriously posting a picture of yourself in your pj's for all the world to see? I'm not going to lie. It's Sunday, and there's a very high probability that I will remain in my pj's for many hours to come. And I'm comfortable with that.

So there you have it. Now you understand why I've been silent so long on this blog. I've been obsessed with pregnancy & babies but not able to talk about it. That's also why we're planning on fixing up the upstairs bedroom from the post below. It'll be our nursery.

Lots of good stuff happening in the near future. Stay tuned for more updates!

Big Plans

Apologies once again for a long blogging hiatus, which wasn't really a hiatus so much as a top secret mission. But more on that later...

For right now, I wanted to show you our new rug!

It was more than we wanted to pay, but it went with the rooms - dining, kitchen & living room - so beautifully. And after months and months of searching with no luck, we decided to go for it. Then, of course, the kitties started digging in their claws... Lesson learned. No more pricey rugs, no matter how pretty or perfect they might seem! Oh well...

So now our downstairs is (almost) completely finished. Time to move upstairs and on to the next project!

This bedroom has functioned as simply a catch-all for our mismatched, crappy college furniture. It's functional as a basic guest bedroom, but perhaps it's time to give it a little TLC.

The south wall - the door to the room is just down a short hall on the left.

The west and north walls with the two windows in the corner
(click on the picture to see the whole thing)

And the east wall with the closet and the short hall to the door

So I've got some ideas thanks entirely to the help of the lovely McGee. Greg and I hope to make serious progress and have the grand unveiling soon. We are in for a busy couple of months!

Three Bits of News

Since I'm back on the blogging train, I can resume boring you once again with the mundane-ery of our lives. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking Yay, I just love the minutia of friends'/strangers' lives. But that's what personal blogs are all about, right. So here goes.

First, G and I hit up the Linens N' Things going-out-of-business sale this week-end and finally found a bed set that we liked! It's only taken 2 years!

Check it out! Decorative pillows and matching sheer curtains, thereby making this the single most coordinated room of the house. Quite possibly the most coordinated room of either of our lives...


Close up of the kitty cuteness - only because it's been a while. Now to my Jedi mind tricks. There are no crumpled, messy clothes on this bed. This bed has only two adorable kittens. All else is order and tidiness.

You can't see it now, can you? Amazing how that works...

Second bit - I bought us a webcam! Now we can call Ewa in England and Jola in Poland via Skype, and we can see each other while we gab. Technology is wonderful, isn't it. Especially when you actually use it. I'm a bit embarassed that Greg's mum had a webcam before we did, but we're catching up to you Ewa!

Thirdly, you can use this handy-dandy webcam to take gratuitous pictures of yourself when you're bored. I spent a good 5 minutes entertaining myself tonight, capturing goofy faces while Greg slept downstairs. Here's a not-so-goofy one showcasing my new bangs.


Yes, bangs. The last time I had bangs was probably around 13-years-old. I hadn't meant to get them, but I said the word "bangs" to my hair dresser and that's what she gave me. I don't hate them as much as I did last week.

ACL 2008

Austin City Limits Mustic Festival this year was two weeks later than usual and still hot, but bearably hot for a change. We had 3-day passes but only did half-days on Saturday & Sunday, a good strategy considering this was the first year that I wasn't sick for an entire week after the festival.

Early on Friday - this is actually a small crowd now

Allison Krauss & Robert Plant were awesome!

I love the music at ACL fest, of course. But there are a few other things I love just as much, including...

1. Overpriced festival food

$7 "turkey & brie panini" Ummm...

2. Interesting fashion senses

Batman

Old dude wearing a skirt

Her feet must be boiling!

3. And the ingenuity of festival goers

Ample bicycle parking


Happy ACL fest, everyone!

Ani Worship

Ani Difranco's music moves me deeply.

But I am a sad excuse for a fan compared to my friend Mar who has been known to go on multi-state, groupie road trips to catch show after show after show. Luckily whenever Ani is coming to town, I receive instant notification from Mar and have a concert buddy since Greg is slightly intimidated by the raging lesbian crowd that Ani's shows draw. (FYI, most of the lesbians I've seen at her shows are not so much raging as mooning. Big difference. Nothing to fear, Greg.)

So Ani made another breeze through Austin last month - this time sans baby belly. It was an amazing show as usual! But what made this one even better... Mar brought her most adorable 9-month-old Hadley to the show, and as we walked through the entrance we were asked if we wanted to sit in the VIP section! Because of Hadley!

**All concert moms! Bring your babies to Stubb's! You can't beat the perks!**

Mar & sweet Hadley, who melted Greg with her smiles

Stuart Comes to Austin

Greg's old friend Stuart had to fly over the states for a "very important conference", which incidentally usually translates into a drunken, debaucherous time on some dumb company's dime. So on his way to Seattle, he made a week-end pit stop in Austin to catch up with Greg and me.

First order of business... many, many margaritas at the Hula Hut. Of course!

Greg says Mmmm, girly drinks...

Stu says Mmmm, bar-b-q ribs...

From the Hula Hut patio on Lake Austin

Next order of business... A fierce game of putt putt golf.



Seeing as how much of Stuart's "work" time consists of hobnobbing with VIP's and playing golf, he naturally beat the pants off of Greg and me.

But I had this dinosaur to worry about. What's your excuse, Greg?

Next? Why snow cones, of course.

And dinner on the deck, courtesy of my darling Greg - best cook eva!

And what is a visit to Austin without some serious bar hopping. We ventured over to West 6th to meet up with friends.



I would have had a MUCH better time if I hadn't been forced to be designated driver, but it is a sacrifice I am happy to make to see these smiles. :)

Apologies

I have been seriously slacking on my blog duties lately. Sorry, Ewa!

I am attempting to do some catching up now, but to tide you over, I leave with this scrumptious tidbit.


Greg seriously proud of his rock star parking - right on the corner of 6th across from Opal Divine's. This never happens in Austin.

Tease

Just got this email from the Chairman's office that was sent out to all the grad students in my department:

date: Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 3:27 PM
subject: Free (Good) Coffee! Hooray!

Hello All~

We have some delicious hot Starbucks in our office up for grabs, complete with sugar and cream. Help yourselves.


And then this:

date: Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 3:44 PM
subject: Coffee is Gone!

Unless someone wants a big cup of cream.


I appreciate that they're willing to share, but I'm starting to think this is some kind of fun game for them. Kinda like teasing animals at the zoo. Throw out promises of free food to grad students and see how fast they desperately come running to collect on the goods. Maybe we're part of some sociology experiment. So far the only parameters being tested - as far as I can tell - is the bait. They've tried it with doughnuts, cookies, sandwiches, and now coffee.

FYI, so far doughnuts have the fastest clearance kinetics.

Hot Sauce Festival

A few weeks ago, we battled the heat and the crowds for a taste of Austin's local hot sauces.

Mmmm.... Nummy!

Working up a sweat and opening our sinuses.