Jonathan has recently discovered the true extent of my lack of knowledge regarding 80's pop culture. This came up when he made a reference to Flashdance and I thought he meant the movie where Kevin Bacon was young and cute.
Suffice it to say, two nights ago we watched Footloose (Sarah Jessica Parker was in it! Who knew?!). And Flashdance has just arrived from Netflix.
What are other 80's movies should I see to get over this apparently terrible cultural deficit? We just added Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles to our Netflix queue. I've already seen The Breakfast Club and Weird Science. And I have this vague recollection of John Cusack holding a radio over his head in Say Anything. Are we missing anything else?
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Ho-hum
Not much has been happening this week. Jonathan and I go to work, we come home, we take off our shoes and we don't leave the house again. It's been brilliant.
We've been hanging out with our neighbors Dave and Elbie across the street, and have introduced them to the show Firefly. They're coming over on Saturday night to have dinner and watch more episodes. I like being friends with neighbors - they're our age, not in remotely religious fields (Dave's a medical resident, Elbie a pulmonary-something) which makes for new and stimulating conversation, they're close by to hang out on short notice, and now we have someone to wave to on our block.
Book-wise, I re-read Tova Mirvis' second novel, The Outside World. Again, loved it. She's my new favorite author. And Dan the librarian has been coming into my office at work to show me various cool things, like a 16th century Hebrew manuscript from a community in China.
The cats have definitely been treating me differently nowadays. Simcha is much more clingy, and even Osher will cuddle with me when before he was obviously more enamored of Jonathan. I wonder - mama cats abandon their first set of kittens and leave them on their own when they have a new litter, yes? Maybe our cats sense that something's going on and don't want to be left behind? It's the only theory I have going.
I've also been having lots of fun doing research on strollers, child care seats, bottles, and other baby stuff. It's amazing how much there is to buy for one tiny little person!
We've been hanging out with our neighbors Dave and Elbie across the street, and have introduced them to the show Firefly. They're coming over on Saturday night to have dinner and watch more episodes. I like being friends with neighbors - they're our age, not in remotely religious fields (Dave's a medical resident, Elbie a pulmonary-something) which makes for new and stimulating conversation, they're close by to hang out on short notice, and now we have someone to wave to on our block.
Book-wise, I re-read Tova Mirvis' second novel, The Outside World. Again, loved it. She's my new favorite author. And Dan the librarian has been coming into my office at work to show me various cool things, like a 16th century Hebrew manuscript from a community in China.
The cats have definitely been treating me differently nowadays. Simcha is much more clingy, and even Osher will cuddle with me when before he was obviously more enamored of Jonathan. I wonder - mama cats abandon their first set of kittens and leave them on their own when they have a new litter, yes? Maybe our cats sense that something's going on and don't want to be left behind? It's the only theory I have going.
I've also been having lots of fun doing research on strollers, child care seats, bottles, and other baby stuff. It's amazing how much there is to buy for one tiny little person!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
Happy anniversary to us.... so to speak
Today is exactly one year since Jonathan and I moved to Cincinnati. I started to think about what's happened in the past year, and came up with more than I realized. We have
- moved from Israel to California to Ohio apartment to Ohio house
- new job for Jonathan
- new school, student pulpit, and teaching job for Michal
- bought and furnished aforementioned house
- formed new community
- bought new car
- gotten pregnant
You know, when you live your life day to day, it all flows naturally. But when I add it up like that, it seems like a lot. No wonder we've felt a little overwhelmed at times!
Other things in life.... poor Simcha-le didn't have his surgery yesterday, because pre-surgery the vet found a problem with his heart and didn't feel comfortable putting him under anaesthesia. So we're going to get a cat ultrasound to confirm the diagnosis next week. Depending on what they find, we'll go from there. Right now he's not acting sick in any way.
I still say that wheatgrass is atrocious. But I have to admit, it's working. I feel much much better. I may even start recommending it. (If only Simcha could take it.)
Jonathan's still at work. At 7pm on Friday. He should be coming home soon. I had the day off today so spent it... cleaning the house. Like, actually cleaning with Windex and things. I must be in my pregnancy nesting phase. Either that or be feverish! I called him to tell him about my cleaning spree and he said that 1) he should work late more often and 2) who was I and what had I done with his wife?
- moved from Israel to California to Ohio apartment to Ohio house
- new job for Jonathan
- new school, student pulpit, and teaching job for Michal
- bought and furnished aforementioned house
- formed new community
- bought new car
- gotten pregnant
You know, when you live your life day to day, it all flows naturally. But when I add it up like that, it seems like a lot. No wonder we've felt a little overwhelmed at times!
Other things in life.... poor Simcha-le didn't have his surgery yesterday, because pre-surgery the vet found a problem with his heart and didn't feel comfortable putting him under anaesthesia. So we're going to get a cat ultrasound to confirm the diagnosis next week. Depending on what they find, we'll go from there. Right now he's not acting sick in any way.
I still say that wheatgrass is atrocious. But I have to admit, it's working. I feel much much better. I may even start recommending it. (If only Simcha could take it.)
Jonathan's still at work. At 7pm on Friday. He should be coming home soon. I had the day off today so spent it... cleaning the house. Like, actually cleaning with Windex and things. I must be in my pregnancy nesting phase. Either that or be feverish! I called him to tell him about my cleaning spree and he said that 1) he should work late more often and 2) who was I and what had I done with his wife?
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Tiredness
Well, the third trimester has hit with a vengeance. I'm back to first-semester tiredness, and apparently my liver is having some issues, so my midwife put me on wheatgrass powder and flax supplements. I haven't noticed any changes yet, but then again, it's only been a day, so I'm hopeful.
I belong to a couple different yahoogroups on natural birth and nutrition, and on one of them, a woman posted that she had a whole bunch of maternity clothes that she was giving away. So I trekked over the 40 minutes to her house last night, and voila! I now have a ton of new T-shirts and stuff to wear around the house. I'd been hoping for more work or snazzy casual clothes, but most of them weren't quite my style. She was really nice though, it was definitely worth going.
Tomorrow will be a somewhat stressful day... we take Simcha in for surgery. He has bad gingivitis and needs to get a tooth pulled. The vet said that there was no specific reason his teeth were bad - we feed him the exact same thing we feed Osher, who's fine - it's just his body chemistry. Poor kitty. We've been giving him antibiotics the past week to get rid of the infection, and he hates taking pills. I have a feeling he won't like surgery any better. But at least he won't be in pain any longer. And he may be in more of a mood to snuggle when we get him home. That will work well with my increased need to lounge on the couch!
I belong to a couple different yahoogroups on natural birth and nutrition, and on one of them, a woman posted that she had a whole bunch of maternity clothes that she was giving away. So I trekked over the 40 minutes to her house last night, and voila! I now have a ton of new T-shirts and stuff to wear around the house. I'd been hoping for more work or snazzy casual clothes, but most of them weren't quite my style. She was really nice though, it was definitely worth going.
Tomorrow will be a somewhat stressful day... we take Simcha in for surgery. He has bad gingivitis and needs to get a tooth pulled. The vet said that there was no specific reason his teeth were bad - we feed him the exact same thing we feed Osher, who's fine - it's just his body chemistry. Poor kitty. We've been giving him antibiotics the past week to get rid of the infection, and he hates taking pills. I have a feeling he won't like surgery any better. But at least he won't be in pain any longer. And he may be in more of a mood to snuggle when we get him home. That will work well with my increased need to lounge on the couch!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Our baby has been delivered prematurely
Fresh from Oxford England, our British baby was still wet behind the ears from its trans-Atlantic voyage to us. Though our new MINI has only been in the States for a week, he has adjusted well and has been tempting Dad with lots of dashes through traffic.Here are the long awaited pictures of the shiny new member of the Loving household.
Me getting the keys. YIPPIE!!
Jay, the way cool guy who sold me the MINI.
He's called a "MINI Adviser."
BMW just cracks me up.
He's called a "MINI Adviser."
BMW just cracks me up.
My lovely wife doing her Vanna White impression.
She looks so good next to the MINI.
She looks so good next to the MINI.
Our new MINI arrives home.
The "S" means Super Fast!
Our MINI's behind.
A view most cars will see.
A view most cars will see.
Michal tells me she feels rich with two cars in the garage.
They do look cute together.
They do look cute together.
I have to say, as good as it looks in the pictures, it's even better looking in the flesh. I have spent the past week learning all the bells and whistles, and it's interesting how the features you thought you could easily live without become the ones you just love. Like, the MINI comes with this Bluetooth connection for your cell phone that allows you to turn the inside of your MINI into a speaker phone. When I saw it on the feature list when I went to order it, I thought I'd never really use it. Let me tell you, I LOVE IT! It's probably my favorite feature. My phone directory shows up on the car dash, and I can pick the number with my steering wheel buttons and dial someone. I never have to reach for my cell phone again! It even turns off your radio while you're talking and turns it back on again after you hang up. Talk about handy!
Even some of my coworkers who didn't see why in the world I would get a MINI changed their mind when they went for a ride in mine. One of them is seriously is looking to see if she can get one.
I've even hacked into the GPS to change the car icon to a picture of our MINI. Go geek skillz!
Anyway, I find myself making excuses to go run errands. This weekend we went on a drive on Kentucky back roads for two hours (plus pee and food breaks for Michal). MINI = FUN!
Now go build your own HERE.
Fourth of July
The day was great. I spent the day doing nothing and I read Tova Mirvis' The Ladies' Auxilary, which is by far one of the best books I've read all year (much better than the last five or six, at least). It's about an Orthodox Jewish community in Memphis that gets completely shook up when a young widow and her daughter move into town. It addresses issues of tradition versus change, finding meaning in law versus observance for observance's sake, small town versus large city, belonging versus being an outsider, and more. I think the main reason I liked it so much (besides that the topic was interesting) was that the book is written in third person plural. The narrator is "we, the women of the Memphis community" and so the very structure itself leads to a new way to explore communal expectations and norms. I thought it was very original.
But aside from my book review - the 4th here is celebrated with pomp and grandeur! People are more patriotic in the Midwest than in CA by far. We went over to our neighbor's for dinner and a BBQ. Dave and Elbie (they're about our age) had all the burger fixings, and we brought corn on the cob and dessert. But it rained! Almost ALL day. I still don't understand this state. So we huddled next to the grill, then as soon as everything was done we raced upstairs to eat. It stopped raining and turned nice at about 9pm, so we moved into our backyard and then set off what had to be half the fireworks sold in Ohio. (Jonathan had bought a whole box, and Dave and Elbie's downstairs neighbor Steve came over too with even more.) We freaked the cats out, I could hear them meowing from inside. But it was really fun! There were smoke ones, ones with color, ones that made loud popping noises... you name it, Kroger sells it. We had all been thinking of going to see the fireworks in the local park (and Jessica and Michael would maybe have joined us) but we pooped out. Instead we just sat around talking the rest of the night.
As far as pregnancy goes... it's definitely getting harder to bend down. Sleeping is also more difficult as Wiggly has apparently decided that whenever I'm nice and relaxed is a fabulous time to kick and do somersaults. He wakes me up sometimes! The best was when he woke up Jonathan: I was spooning behind him, the baby gave a hard kick, and Jonathan muttered half-asleep, "I felt THAT!"
We decided not to take a childbirth class (like Lamaze or Bradley) because our midwife is giving us so much good information, and I'm doing most of the research on my own anyway. I just started a book from Holly, A Holistic Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth by Deepak Chopra, which I find fascinating, and I'm also partway through Hypnobirthing: The Mongan Method, about releasing fear and pain through self-hypnosis. Ida May's Guide to Natural Childbirth is on its way from amazon.com and should get here next week.
Jonathan is greatly enjoying every errand that involves driving. He even completely cleaned out the garage so two cars now fit. Oh, and other big news! My sister may come to live with us in spring. She's out of the army now and wants to move to New York, but realizes she's a bit short on cash to go straight there. So if it works out, she may stay with us for a few months from February on. I'll keep you updated.
But aside from my book review - the 4th here is celebrated with pomp and grandeur! People are more patriotic in the Midwest than in CA by far. We went over to our neighbor's for dinner and a BBQ. Dave and Elbie (they're about our age) had all the burger fixings, and we brought corn on the cob and dessert. But it rained! Almost ALL day. I still don't understand this state. So we huddled next to the grill, then as soon as everything was done we raced upstairs to eat. It stopped raining and turned nice at about 9pm, so we moved into our backyard and then set off what had to be half the fireworks sold in Ohio. (Jonathan had bought a whole box, and Dave and Elbie's downstairs neighbor Steve came over too with even more.) We freaked the cats out, I could hear them meowing from inside. But it was really fun! There were smoke ones, ones with color, ones that made loud popping noises... you name it, Kroger sells it. We had all been thinking of going to see the fireworks in the local park (and Jessica and Michael would maybe have joined us) but we pooped out. Instead we just sat around talking the rest of the night.
As far as pregnancy goes... it's definitely getting harder to bend down. Sleeping is also more difficult as Wiggly has apparently decided that whenever I'm nice and relaxed is a fabulous time to kick and do somersaults. He wakes me up sometimes! The best was when he woke up Jonathan: I was spooning behind him, the baby gave a hard kick, and Jonathan muttered half-asleep, "I felt THAT!"
We decided not to take a childbirth class (like Lamaze or Bradley) because our midwife is giving us so much good information, and I'm doing most of the research on my own anyway. I just started a book from Holly, A Holistic Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth by Deepak Chopra, which I find fascinating, and I'm also partway through Hypnobirthing: The Mongan Method, about releasing fear and pain through self-hypnosis. Ida May's Guide to Natural Childbirth is on its way from amazon.com and should get here next week.
Jonathan is greatly enjoying every errand that involves driving. He even completely cleaned out the garage so two cars now fit. Oh, and other big news! My sister may come to live with us in spring. She's out of the army now and wants to move to New York, but realizes she's a bit short on cash to go straight there. So if it works out, she may stay with us for a few months from February on. I'll keep you updated.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Ravenwood castle pictures
This is the preview picture. For all others, go here: Ravenwood Castle
All in all, it was a great vacation. Just what we needed - secluded, relaxing, with great food. We stayed in the room pictured for one night, but it was a little noisy, so we actually upgraded to one of the Cottages. It had a mini-kitchen and double whirlpool tub.
Pictures and description of the Mini will follow in a separate post... that will most likely be written by Jonathan.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Fun Wiggly developments
After dinner last night I felt the oddest sensation in my belly. It was like rhythmic kicks, but not quite as powerful - more like the whole area was contracting, not just one spot being kicked. I looked down, and my belly was actually jumping. It lasted about a minute and a half. It took me a second, then I realized - I think the baby had the hiccups!
(And yes, pictures of me and the burgeoning belly, Ravenwood, and the Mini will be posted soon. The camera's sitting on the coffee table. It's just been a busy week.)
(And yes, pictures of me and the burgeoning belly, Ravenwood, and the Mini will be posted soon. The camera's sitting on the coffee table. It's just been a busy week.)
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