Cry Baby

I guess this whole pregnancy hormone thing is kicking in. Last night, as Lane and I were putting our groceries away in the kitchen, I bumped my head. Now, it didn't really hurt that much at all, but all of a sudden tears just started streaming down my face. Lane was so sweet, he just gave me a big hug, told me he'd finish and to go sit down. He brought me some water and even a little snack. While I sniffled away, Lane cleaned the kitchen and finished putting away all the groceries. I felt much better later and thanked him for giving me a time out ;)

Holiday Feasting

I am very proud of my chef of a husband. Just look at his fine cuisine! For Christmas eve, we ate this delectable feta cheese & veggie pasta, which Lane was able to master after an intensive learn by doing course provided by my mom the last time she was visiting us.

On Christmas morning, I got up early to make a fancy -schmancy breakfast for Lane. I made french toast. But I put tangerine zest and tangerine juice in the egg batter. I was sad that I didn't have enormously thick toast to use, but improvised. I toasted two slices of bread and then slathered them with goat cheese, pressed them together, and then battered and made french toast with those "sandwiches". I also mashed up some fresh strawberries with a splash of balsamic vinegar to top the french toast. I roasted breakfast potatoes and fried up some ham for side dishes and Lane concocted a delicious berry smoothie to top it all off. We were so stuffed we couldn't even finish.

For Christmas dinner, I seared some bacon wrapped filet mignon and made a gravy with red wine, fresh garlic, and butter. We had herbed mashed potatoes and sauteed asparagus. When we went in the kitchen to put away the left over food, the aroma of my red wine gravy filled the air. When I commented about how good it smelled, Lane was quick to point out that it was because it had been cooking the whole time. That explained why the pan was all dark yucky looking. I was *so* looking forward to that on top of my lunchtime mashed potatoes today.

Week 10

This is a big week for Baby Grover, who is graduating from embryo to fetus status. By the end of the week, Baby Grover will be nearly two inches long. Also starting this week, there will be a 40 to 50 percent increase in my blood volume!! Holy Moly.

Lately I get to wake up every night to go pee. I can't really sleep in on the weekends because I get so starving!! I usually get up, have myself a little mini-breakfast, and then eat Second Breakfast with Lane. Because by that time, I'm hungry all over again. It's hard work growing a baby :)

Christmas Weekend

Christmas weekend was fun and relaxing. We started it off at a friend's party where they were showing super odd Christmas videos, such as the California Raisin's Claymation Christmas Special. But the one that took the cake was the Star Wars Holiday Special, which apparently aired only once (what a surprise!). This was the most bizarre, odd-ball video ever! It was a story about Chewbacca's family (all speaking to each other in their unintelligible language), with random Star Wars video clips... interspersed with the strange music and weird colors and moving kaleidescope shapes; it seems like a drug-induced project gone wrong. We watched about 45 minutes of it in complete awe and still weren't able to figure out what made it a Holiday Special. Nevertheless, it was entertaining in a strange sort of way.

After I learned that my co-worker Mark had never seen The Christmas Story, I ordered it on Netflix. We had a special showing on Saturday night with Mark, Richard, and one of our interns that is here from the Indonesian Red Cross. I was a little nervous that the movie wouldn't be quite as entertaining as I remembered it being, since I hadn't actually seen it in years. But it was still every bit as enjoyable. As usual, I cooked too much food and we were all stuffed to the brim by the end of the evening.

Lane and I did some holiday shopping over the weekend and were excited to finally buy some new suitcases. We love sales, and got two carry on bags for 50% off, plus had a $25 coupon, and we got an additional 20% off for using our Macy's card. We were kind of high after getting that super special deal, so we were looking for more things to buy - wine racks, le creuset cookware, picture frames, but they didn't have any of the items we were looking for. It's probably for the better.

Cat's out of the Bag!

Lane and I have been bursting at the seams waiting to tell our families, but trying so hard to not say anything until Christmas. All day long we were wondering when our parents would open their presents and when they'd call us.

It was great that so many people could find out at once with the Christmas gift opening. Lane's parents, sister, and both grandmas were on the phone when they called to say that they'd gotten the best Christmas gift ever!!

As soon as we got off the phone with them, we started calling the brothers. Grandma Chaney also warned that she couldn't keep her mouth shut, so we better tell them soon :) It was exciting to hear everyone be so thrilled with our big news.

Meliss literally SCREAMED for like 20 seconds upon hearing the news. Nate told us that our nephew, Chaney was jumping up and down with excitement, and having recently learned the art of sarcasm exclaimed, "Oh that's a bummer!" in jest. Adie & Ian were so sweet to send us an e-card and offer any advice we needed, and Cati let me know that she couldn't wait to start shopping and how well-dressed our baby would be!!

My Dad told us what a good job we had done, and it sounds like my parents might be planning a trip out here soon! My sisters were both practically crying with happiness, which made me get a little teary eyed myself.

I'm feeling much more excited now that everyone knows our big secret. Now I have to figure out when and how to tell people at work.

Here's a cute video for your viewing pleasure: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1789889456

Merry Christmas to Us!

Check out our Christmas surprise here

Picture Time!

Until today, Lane and I had taken pictures together just once since we'd gotten married seven and a half years ago. That time, he asked and asked for us to have our picture taken. Lane decided it was time again for another photo shoot. Here are the results:

A Little Inappropriate Christmas Cheer

Lane was really insistent that we use a certain Halloween picture for some christmas cards. I didn't think they were the most appropriate things to send to people like our parents, aunts & uncles, great-aunts & uncles, or nieces & nephews. So I compromised and got regular cards for most people and ordered the least amount possible of the Halloween style. We only sent them to very few people, and of course had to keep one for ourselves. Here it is, in all its inappropriateness!

It's Christmas Time in the City!

Christmas time is turning out to be quite exciting. We have had our tree up for weeks now, and let me say, it is a beauty! I love that so many of our ornaments have special meaning - like the one that is engraved with our wedding date and names for our first christmas, or the elf engraved with Lane's name that he's had since he was little, or my Chaney ornaments, or the handmade felt ones from Lane's mom, 0r the snowflakes we made together (seriously, I could go on for days).

I received specific instructions to not wait until Christmas to open my present from Meliss, my awesome, super duper creative and Christmas-loving sister-in-law. I don't know how she found the time to make me such wonderful gifts, but boy was I happy to get a cutsie bird christmas ornament, adorable Christmas placemats, that can be reversed and used for Valentine's Day, and a beautiful matching double sided Christmas apron made with vintage buttons from Grandma Chaney. Thank you, Meliss!!

Lane's parents sent us a delightful Tower of Treats from Harry & David which we have started to enjoy. And today we got the sweetest magnet of Claire & Natalie in the mail. We can now look at their darling faces all year round.

I have been really lagging in sending out Christmas cards. I barely got them out in today's mail. So, if you don't live on the east coast, you probably won't get your card until after the holidays, I'm embarassed to admit. I was also a little sad since we had only received a very small handful of cards so far. I was starting to wonder if people forgot about us out on the east coast.

Not so. Today, after dropping off some cards for our lovely friends we've made in the building, I got a huge stack of season's greetings in the mail! As I opened each one, they made me laugh and smile for different reasons. Our DC friends Ben & Raquel said that their grandmother's cooking doesn't quite taste the same after having eaten my cooking, our Hawaii friends Andrew & Malia miss Neil Diamond (Lane), Taryn & Parker, the kids I used to nanny for are now SEVENTEEN and THIRTEEN!!! I think they were 7 and 3 when I started working with them. Taryn is applying for college!! Cati & Noal got us a funny card, as usual, and my sister sent the most darling card with pictures of Andrew.

We have a four day weekend in store for us, filled with friendly visits, good eats (although I haven't quite decided on the menu yet), spending lovely time together, sleeping in, a viewing of The Christmas Story and the excitement in waiting for the actual big holiday.

Happy Holidays!!!

Week 9

Baby Grover now measures about the size of a quarter from "crown to rump" - that's about an inch long. Here is Baby Grover's photo debut:

Cubicle Love Part Three

We love decorating cubicles at work, as you can see in previous posts (June and probably April or May). Clearly, we eagerly jumped to the challenge when a CONTEST was announced in honor of the holiday spirit. Our early enthusiasm was also our downfall. People saw our outstanding decoration skills, got inspired and took it to the next level, leading the entire area to complete and utter decoration mayhem. It was fun to see everyone participating. Here are some photos of our creations: Yes, we handmade all the snowflakes hanging from the ceilings.

It may be hard to tell, but we wrote all our names on the stockings and handmade this fireplace as well.
The outer walls of our cubes were covered in wrapping paper and we had two end tables with Almond Rocca, Peppermint Rocca, and Christmas cookies, which we shamelessly offered to the judges. One of my colleagues even wrapped up little boxes of chocolates as gifts for the judges. Speaking of shamelessness, I even complimented a judge on her Christmas sweater. We had Christmas songs playing, and were even continuously running a video of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
In true Red Cross style, the judges decided they couldn't just award 1st, 2nd & 3rd prizes, but rather gave some sort of prize to each participating group. We won for most creative.

One more person in the know.

We knew we were taking a chance in David finding out our big news over the weekend. The instant I walked in the door he started offering me drinks – margarita? Beer? Wine? Gin & Tonic? Uhm, no, no and no.. After that, I surprisingly made it through a dinner with three other people and two bottles of wine without suspicion. It was a little hard though when the waiter brought out a glass of wine on the house for me.

Later that night, we went to one of David’s favorite hangouts where the manager insisted on buying us drinks. David said I needed one, that I hadn’t had anything all night. When I politely declined, he told me how rude it was of me to not accept the offer. I realized that we couldn’t go on much further like this, especially since a sushi dinner, cocktails, and karaoke bar madness were in store later that weekend.

When I explained that I *couldn’t* have a drink, David looked so confused. Suddenly, he gasped, put both hands to his mouth, and wide-eyed asked, “are you pregnant?!?!?!?” He immediately got tears in his eyes, gave me the biggest hug, and told me how long he’d been waiting for this for us, and what an amazing mother I’d be. It was super duper sweet. Later on, David actually threw his arms up in joy, as if having witnessed a soccer goal and yelled, “My sister’s having a baby!!!” Even the next morning, he woke up saying over and over again how happy he was for us.

And for as many times as he expressed his happiness, I reminded him that he needed to keep it a super duper top secret until after Christmas. At first, I was worried that he’d blab to everyone, but he promised not to, and really gets a kick out of being the only one in the family who knows. I gave him full permission to tell his friends and co-workers, in hopes that this would get the telling itch out of his system.

It was really weird hanging out with a bunch of people and not having this big secret. No one looked at me weird when I just had water to drink at the bar, people were giving up their seats for me, and they didn’t think it was strange when I used the restroom over and over and over again. I realized how much I’ve been holding back my own excitement – not really talking about it except to Lane and very few others.

Can’t wait for everyone to finally be “in the know”.

New York

My colleague Mark and I had to go in to New York for work last Thursday and Friday. I decided to spend the weekend there and Lane came up on Friday.

David, who is addicted to Kebab Palace had been talking up his new favorite Afghan restaurant, which is only a couple blocks from his apartment. Since Mark was the one who introduced us both to the Afghan madness, we decided to let David introduce us to Ariana and judge for ourselves whether it was better than Kebab Palace. In fact, in preparation Lane and I ate at Kebab Palace on Wednesday night with our new neighbors. The waiter there thanked us for bringing our friends and said we were now ambassadors to Kebab Palace.

As we walked in the door with my brother, the owner Rafi loudly greeted him (by name). He gave us menus only to take them away and serve us what he thought we should eat. We had delectable samosas - meat, spinach, and pumpkin ones, another lovely appetizer, a plate of kebab madness, basmati rice with raisins, pistachios, and carrot slivers, salad, and wine. Hands down, it was fresher, less greasy, and more delicious than our local place. I also had the chance to meet some of the ladies David works with over dinner. They were really fun, and I understand why David has such a crazy time in the office. They are just as wild as he is!

David tried to convince us to go Mangia e Bevi afterwards, this is the restaurant where people dance on their chairs and use tambourines, etc. We were all tired and protesting a little. So we walked in, only to turn around and head back out. We crossed the street and started walking home when we heard this really loud whistle. The waiter was standing outside, cupping his hands and yelling that William, the manager, wanted to buy us drinks. How can you refuse that offer?! So we turned around and went back, chatted with William, and danced a little before heading home for the night.

A typical night at Mangia e Bevi

Totally random strangers at Mangia E Bevi:
Friday evening, David and I went to Bryant Park where they had Christmas songs, an ice rink, and all sorts of booths for artisan crafts and Christmas ornaments. I bought some hot apple cider, got a super warm winter hat for myself, and a present for Grandma Grover. I was hoping to find something for Grandma Chaney also, but I didn't find anything calling her name. David and I decided to cook dinner for Lane so we made one of his favorites - green curry. mmm. It was delicious!

We did more christmas shopping and even braved the ridiculous crowds on fifth avenue on Saturday and had a late lunch at this INSANE barbeque place. When we walked in, it was like we were transported to Texas, and nowhere near NYC! You order meat and sides at these counters and they give you the meat wrapped in butcher paper. David ordered us jalapeno sausage, brisket, ribs, chicken, and more. We also had side dishes of this amazing sweet corn pudding, green bean casserole, and black bean salad. We ate and ate until we could hardly move out of the chairs. I was sound asleep in the cab home, and promptly took a THREE HOUR nap. That was some serious food coma.
Before:

After:
Thank goodness we rested up because later that evening we went out for Chrissie's b-day party. We hit up this cute sushi place on the lower east side. Hours after our late lunch none of us were hungry in the slightest, but we gladly downed a spider roll, dragon roll, and this delicious shitake mushroom and pumpkin roll. mmmm. This was followed by cake and drinks at a nearby dive bar, which was then followed by karaoke bar madness. There was lots of singing/yelling, in all sorts of keys at the same time, and it was a total blast. We got home around 3:30, at which time we decided to feast (again) on curry leftovers and the boys stayed up playing the guitar until 5 in the am!!

We had a lovely weekend in NYC with David, as usual. He introduced us to some wonderful new places. Although I got in trouble for not waiting for Lane to go to Afghani (but now we have a good excuse to go back). Best of all, David has a huge Christmas tree and is very excited about starting up an ornament collection. I brought him a DC ornament to get him started :)

Thanks for an awesome weekend!!

Week 8

Lane swears I'm pushing my tummy out here, but I'm not! (boo for the double chin look I'm sporting in this pic)

Unexpected Doctor Visit

Yesterday morning I ready my weekly pregnancy email from webmd which advised that I might have a little cramping due to stretching ligaments. And, boy, did I feel what they were talking about.

This dull aching lasted all through the day, especially on one side. I started wondering if this was really normal, or not. I went to bed and still, the next morning I felt this continuous aching especially in my left side. So I did what any sane person would do, research on the internet. Researching things on the internet when you think something is wrong is never a good idea, but I did it anyway and read all about ectopic pregnancies and how they are usually noticeable in the 6-8 week range. That’s right where I am. Not good.

All this time, I hadn’t even really considered the possibility of something going wrong. Suddenly, my mind was flooded with all the bad results and reactions and telling people, having to explain our Christmas gifts to our parents, and whatnot. I decided to test the after hours telephone line at my dr’s office and it worked out great. You leave a message, and are supposed to receive a call back within 10 to 20 minutes. I got a call back 4 minutes later. The doctor was very friendly and recommended that I make an appointment to come in today. She said she would advise the staff that we spoke and make sure they’d fit me into today’s schedule. I called right when the office opened, advised them of my conversation and they scheduled me for this afternoon with the doctor I spoke with this morning.

I am still feeling this pain, and having better feelings about everything being okay. I thought it would be better to have them tell me it was nothing, than to assume it wasn’t anything and find myself regretting not contacting them.

...

Well, having just returned from the doctor, I can safely say that everything is a-okay. I had a culture taken, a blood test for Cystic Fibrosis, and a sonogram. It was so weird to see with my very own eyes that there is actually a little rascal growing in there. The heart rate was 144, which the doctors say is normal. I’ll post Baby Grover’s photo debut shortly. According to the "crown to rump" measurements, I'm 9 weeks along, although the doctor said we should stick with the original due date of July 22, 2008. That's right, one day before our wedding anniversary and four days after my birthday.

I went in early because I was worried about the pain, which is normal, they say. Lane was supposed to go with me to the 12/21 appointment, but the doctor said I should just cancel that one and schedule another one for 4 weeks from now. I didn’t have a sonogram last time because I wanted Lane to be there, and now I ended up having one without him there anyway which I was really disappointed about. I needed to get it done to make sure everything was all good, and thank goodness it is. Lane was really sweet. He said it was okay, and that he's just glad his babies are okay. :-)

I’m going in for a Down Syndrome testing sometime in the next couple of weeks. I believe they do sonograms for those as well. Hopefully, Lane can come along for that appointment.

Christmas and other stuff.

Lane and I are so excited for Christmas. Mostly because we have sent gifts to our parents sharing the big news with them. We got them both cutsie baby photo albums engraved with "Baby Grover". It will be a great surprise for them, and mostly everyone will find out at the same time. Yesterday morning, Lane and I were talking about how we thought our families would react.

In other news, Week 8 has begun and Baby Grover is now the size of a grape, while my uterus has grown to the size of a grapefruit.

About six or seven weeks ago I started getting the Economist. I'd avidly read as much as I could before the next week's edition came out. But my, have my reading interests shifted. Now all I read is the Pregnancy Journal, From the Hips, and What to Expect in the First Year. When I went to my first appointment last week, I had already read everything that they told me, and there was almost no new information in the powerpoint presentation. So I decided to concentrate on eating healthy, exercising (haven't made much progress here yet), and referring to my pregnancy books when I have a question. I figured I might as well use this reading time to study up on how to take care of a little baby after it arrives :)

Weekend Recap

We finally hung out with our new neighbors on Friday night. The day before Daylight Savings time ended, we found a little pumpkin candle on our doorstep reminding us to "fall back" and wishing us a happy autumn from our new neighbors. (I admit it, I thought Martha Stewart had moved into town and was getting ready to put me in my place)We stopped by to say hello, and even brought some cookies shortly after, but Friday was our first time hanging out.

We suggested Jaleo, but mostly because of the awesome Bolivian brothers who play guitar on Friday nights and sing so beautifully and sound *just* like the Gipsy Kings. We arrived to two IMPOSTERS. Apparently, the one night we try to introduce new people to this place, our fabulous guitar duo had another gig in DC. These other guitarists weren't nearly as good. We still enjoyed getting to know each other. Later on, we went back to the apartment and hung out in the pool table room. Our 11th floor friends, Sean & Jessica jpined us as well. It was good times for Friday night.

We were really excited to see Bill & Julie for lunch on Saturday. We hadn't seen them in FOREVER. Julie is pretty much super-woman. She recently completed an Ironman race - almost 3 miles of ocean swimming, followed by a 100 plus mile bike run, followed by a marathon!!! WOW, congrats Julie!

Saturday night was the official start of the holiday cheer. Our friends Alex & Matt hosted a Christmas party full of delightful friends, holiday songs, a gift exchange, awesome game they MADE UP, and tasty treats and drinks.

Lane had to go into work on Sunday so I decided to start cleaning the house. We watched Sicko, the Michael Moore movie. It really was sick. Lane and I are tempted to move to France or something crazy like that. (like that will ever happen)

Happy Birthday, David!

My big brother and fellow east coaster, David celebrates his birthday today. I won't tell you how old he is, but he's seven years older than me. When I was really little I called him Day-ha (don't ask me why).

David protected me when I was little. He also introduced me to a lot of cool music that I wouldn't have heard until years later if it weren't for him. One day he had me go in his room to hear this really cool new song that came out, so he played me the tape and it was Depeche Mode's People are People.

Even though he never let me sing along with the Oompa Loopa songs when we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (only HE was allowed, apparently), he's still a great brother and friend to Lane and me both. At his wedding, our photographer wanted a picture with David and just his brothers, he said Lane *was* his brother and needed to be in the pic.

Happy Birthday, Bro.

First Doctor Visit

Like I said before, this doctor visit was just for the initial blood work and to answer questions. I met with a very nice doctor who gave me some prenatal vitamins samples and a year's prescription. He took me in his office to show me a really detailed power point presentation with all the do's and don'ts as well as what to expect for the first visit, info about testing, and recommendations. He emailed it to me at home and said I can email him whenever. The office phone is answered 24/7, so he said to call with any question at any time.

Then the doctor said it was a really slow day, and that if I wanted, I could have a sonogram to see the baby and maybe even hear the heartbeat. Lane and I had talked about the appointments and decided that since I was just getting bloodwork and such done, that he'd come for the next appointment. I thought about how cool it would be to have a little picture and that we could somehow incorporate it into a Christmas gift for our parents, but I declined. I wanted Lane to be there. So hopefully, we'll get one done on the 21st.

These days I've been feeling like I have this huge secret. I also feel as if my body is emanating "I'm pregnant, people!" waves and that everyone can just tell. It's probably all in my head, but it's kind of weird.

Yesterday my boss was talking about how stressed out she is with everything at work and how she keeps getting more things thrown at her. It made me feel really uncomfortable thinking about how to tell her (probably sometime in the next month or so) about our pregnancy. I'm already not sure about wearing quite a few items of clothing - i can make my way into them, but then it seems even more apparent that I'm either "chunking out" or that there's a little baby growing inside of me.

Week 7

According to my Pregnancy Journal, Baby Grover is growing at a phenomenal rate. If our baby grew as fast right after birth as it is growing right now, it would measure 15 feet tall by the time it was one month old! Holy Moly!

The Pregnancy Journal is super cool. Each day has info about a new development in the baby's growth, what the mother should expect (sheesh, I'm going to be a mom!!), and tips for healthy eating. Each evening before we go to sleep, Lane and I read what happened that day.

It seems weird that I have this little bump so early. I tried reading online to find out when you start "showing". Basically it's different for everyone. But I did read that if you're really thin, it's much more apparent earlier. My mom has always told me that she got big right away with each pregnancy, so quickly that the doctors always thought she was carrying twins.

Preggers in Miami

Baby Grover is barely seven weeks old and has already traveled to the Dominican Republic and most recently, Miami. All I have to say is goodbye window seats and hello aisle seats. I've always loved sitting by the window and getting a little preview of my destination before even landing. Another benefit has been not being bothered when other people have to get in and out of their seats throughout the entire flight. Well, that is who I have become. It took one flight of being seated next to two tall men, who were fully engaged in their reading and video watching, behind an entire row of people with reclined seats to learn that it just wasn't meant for me anymore. As soon as I got to the airport for the return flight, I promptly switched to an aisle seat.

It's hard to eat properly when you're limited to Cuban restaurant food. It's quite delicious, but full of tons of meat, various fried foods, plantains, plantains, and more plantains, buttery and unhealthy pastries, and very few vegetables, salads, or calcium. After I got home, we spent Sunday at the grocery store stocking up on lots of fresh fruits and veggies and healthy snacks to eat throughout the day. I've been feeling a lot hungrier lately, but also get full much faster.

Over lunch one day with Miami chapter volunteer, she learned that I had been married for seven years, and when I responded to a question of hers saying I didn't have any kids yet, she immediately asked if I had considered adoption. I was kind of taken by surprise by that response. I guess some people don't just spend time enjoying each other's company after getting married or there's automatically something wrong with you if you don't have kids. And there she was thinking how sad it was to be me, unable to get pregnant, when in fact I was exactly that. I told her we planned on having some kids of our own, and yes, we'd actually talked about adopting also, but that's not in our immediate future. I guess I should start getting used to personal/intruding questions and how to graciously respond.

My first doctor appointment is tomorrow.

Miami y el resto del fin de semana

After a short recovery from Thanksgiving madness and requisite left-over feasting, I headed off to Miami for a couple of days to teach class at the chapter on how to do Restoring Family Links casework.

It was kind of a shocker to leave 40 degree weather and arrive in Miami at 8:30 pm to twice the temperature and sticky hot humidity. When the chapter staff found out I was leaving right away, this little old lady insisted that she take a colleague and me out on the town to see at least some of Miami.
So we hopped into her little corolla with extremely tinted windows and made our way to the best Cuban restaurant in town. It’s called Versailles, and apparently all the bigwigs eat there when they’re in town. It’s also where all the Cubanos eat, and gather when there is big news. Rumor has it that when business is slow at Versailles, the owners leak to the media that Fidel Castro has died. I ate so much meat and plantains – fried, mashed, fried, flattened, and then fried again (tostones). And while I’m not a big coffee drinker at all, I really enjoyed Cuban coffee. They serve it in these tiny cups that are about the size of a large thimble. It’s somehow sweet and quite tasty.

Later, our gracious host drove us to South Beach where they had many restaurants and stores out by the Beach, tons of outdoor seating and WOW, were there a lot of lights in that city! Entire buildings were bright neon colors – some even changed color before my very eyes. Bridges were lit up with flashing pinkish purple lights. It was like being in Las Vegas or something. I flew home early on Friday evening.

Lane and I ate at Kebab Palace on Friday night and got together with some friends to play games on Saturday night. It was a relaxing weekend, very welcome after almost a week of Thanksgiving overeating and entertaining.

We’ve been without a dishwasher for a week and a half now. Hopefully, a new one will be waiting to greet us in our kitchen tonight.