2 days!

I can't quite get my head around the fact that in 2 short days I'll be a mother -- to two babies, no less!

It's such a weird feeling. A mixture of excitement and fear and the unknown that is indescribable. I have no doubt that I'll be a good mother and that I'll be able to handle it all, but I'm still awed by the enormity of change that will take place in my life.

Jamey and I keep talking about it as the "biggest day of our lives." And it certainly will be!

Week 36

We hit week 36 today! That's a really great milestone for twins. So we're down to 5 days and counting til the scheduled c-section!!!

This morning we had our last ultrasound. All good news. Babies measured just shy of 6 pounds each and they "passed" all their tests (in terms of practice breathing and umbilical cord function, etc).

Merry Christmas!

Me and the babies are doing well. Here's me on Christmas Eve at my aunt and uncle's house. Don't I look huge?

 

Status quo

I'm holding my own and the babies aren't showing any signs yet that they're going to show up in the immediate future. Hopefully that means we can celebrate Christmas with my family without going to the hospital!

My belly has gotten enormous, though, just in the last week or so. The doctor measured it yesterday at 48 centimeters (from sternum to pelvic bone). To put that in context, a women with a single baby usually measures about the same as whatever week her pregnancy is in. So 40 centimeters would be full term. Yikes. The good part is that my belly just sticks straight out -- it's all babies, nothing extra!

Merry Christmas to everybody! Hope you have a great holiday with your families and friends.

Letter to Santa

The Pioneer Press asked me (and a few other staffers) to write letters to Santa this year. They were published in today's paper. Mine, of course, has to do with the twins.

You can read it online here or pick up a copy of today's paper (Section E).

Babies are still staying put and we're hopeful to make it to Dec. 31st. Each day is getting harder for me, though. I feel like my belly has expanded several inches just in the last couple of days! UGH.

Practice at the hospital

I got to have a bit of "practice" at the hospital this week. Tuesday, at about 6 pm, I started bleeding. This was a bit alarming because the week before the doctors thought that I had a condition called "vasa previa" -- meaning that blood vessels from Baby A's placenta were covering my cervix. With this condition, bleeding is extremely dangerous for the baby.

Jamey wasn't home, so I called him and he started driving back here from the rental property. But it had been snowing all day and traffic was snarled. He didn't think he could get back here fast enough. So he called one of our neighbors and she and her daughter came over and called an ambulance to come get me.

So I got to ride in an ambulance! We didn't hit nearly as much traffic as they had expected and got there in the usual amount of time.

The bleeding actually stopped fairly quickly and never got very bad. But they put me on the baby monitors right away to make sure the babes were okay. And they were fabulous, as usual. They were moving around like crazy (a good sign that they are well oxygenated and healthy) and their heartbeats were right where they should be. I was having my usual amount of contractions.

The doctor, though, couldn't determine if it was vasa previa that caused the bleeding or something else. He said they needed a Level 2 ultrasound machine and the only one available to them was locked up in a perinatal office that had already closed for the day. So I would have to wait until Wednesday. He also wanted to continue monitoring me and the babies to make sure the bleeding didn't start again. If anything went wrong, we would be having a c-section that night!

So off we went to the birth unit to spend the night. Since we seemed to be doing just fine, Jamey went home around midnight, but neither one of us slept very well.

Wednesday they couldn't get me in for an ultrasound until nearly 2 pm. So I just had to lay around all morning (they did let me take a shower at least!).

The ultrasound showed no signs of vasa previa. But I seem to have some of my own blood vessels right near the cervix and apparently one of them ruptured when I was going to the bathroom! This isn't as much of a problem as vasa previa, especially since I'm having a c-section.

So we're back to the usual routine -- bedrest and hoping we can make it to Dec 31st. The doctors say the babies would be okay if born now, but they would be much, much better if we can get another couple weeks.

Week 34

We ended up at the hospital AGAIN last night. My contractions started coming too frequently and the medication I'm on wasn't doing the trick.

As the nurse was settling me into the maternal assessment center at Abbott, she said she wanted us to be prepared for the possibility that the doctor might want to proceed with a c-section that night!

We were a bit stunned. Reality came crashing in.

Having passed the 34-week mark, we've moved into the zone when twins are typically born and they would be okay if they were born now. So it's common for doctors to stop measures (such as the meds I'm on) to prevent labor.

However, it turned out that the doctor on duty was my regular OB, Dr. Kreider. We were pleased to see her. She thought it would be better to give me a shot of terbutaline (which is stronger than the stuff they have me on at home) and see if that slowed things.

It did. So she sent us home.

But before we left, we scheduled the c-section. That made it even more real! So the scheduled date is 7:30 am on Dec. 31st. Yep -- New Year's Eve. The plan is to try to make it that far.

Of course, an emergency c-section might happen anytime between now and then if the babies show signs of distress, or if I develop complications (such as high blood pressure) or if I go into full blown labor that they can't stop.

In the meantime, I get to continue sitting at home bored out of my mind. Jamey is working furiously to finish at least one of the units on the duplex rental property that we bought a few months ago. He's behind schedule and has found more problems than he anticipated over there. We had hoped to get at least one unit rented before the babies came, but that's looking highly unlikely right now. UGH.

We had an ultrasound on Thursday that showed the babies are still doing extremely well. The little girl looks like she's got really chubby cheeks! That's a really good sign cause it means they are putting on fat -- one of the last things that develops. They have been moving a lot and the doctor is really pleased with how they seem to be faring. That's reassuring!

However, the ultrasound also showed blood vessels near my cervix -- something they call "vasa previa". Apparently this is a huge problem if you're going to deliver vaginally. The blood vessels are from the placenta (in this case, for Baby A) and apparently they often rupture when your water breaks, usually resulting in death for the baby due to blood loss! It's usually not diagnosed until after delivery.

My doctor isn't terribly concerned about it since we're doing a c-section anyway (babies are still laying sideways). I just hope I don't go into full blown labor before then. We're going to talk with the doctor more about this at our regular appointment on Tuesday. I just don't want to take any chances that something bad might happen.

That's about it for now. I'm crazy bored and will welcome any visitors, any time. Bring on the distractions!

Maternity photos

A few weeks ago we had our wedding photographer, Michelle DuPuis, come and take maternity photos. Here are just a few of the pics....

Let the boredom begin...

I'm officially on bedrest. My doctor decided on Tuesday that working and spending too much time up and about is now putting me at too great a risk of pre-term labor. By laying low, we hope to keep the babies in there for another 3-4 weeks. So basically, we want to get past Christmas, if not longer.

I don't have to lay in bed all day, but I won't be doing housework or grocery shopping or anything like that. So, lots of movies and books and stuff like that. I do have a few things to do to get ready for the babies (my nesting!) so I'll use my limited energy for that.

I'll be eager for any visitors or distractions anyone wants to provide! As most of you know, I don't sit still for long. So this is going to be a challenge.

Week 32

 

We've made it to the magic mark of week 32. This is the point at which twins would be okay if they were to be born now. There might be medical issues and a couple weeks in the hospital, but it wouldn't be anything life-threatening. So now the goal is to keep them in the oven for as much time as we can.

That's clearly getting harder.

This past week, I've really taken a turn for the worse. I've been to the hospital three times this past week. On Monday, my ultrasound showed some concerns with my cervix. Then I started having contractions too frequently (every 4 to 7 minutes). So they gave me a drug that stops the contractions, did a fibronectin test (this determines whether you might go into labor in the next two weeks) and gave me a two-dose set of shots of steroids that help the babies' lungs develop just in case they come early. The fibronectin was negative and exams showed my cervix completely closed -- so it doesn't look like they're coming immediately. But the contractions are a concern, particularly if they were to go unchecked.

The drug they gave me kept the contractions at bay from Monday afternoon til Friday. Then they were back. So off I went to the hospital again. This time they gave me pills that I have to take every 6 hours. Those seem to be working so far.

I'm also finding that being on my feet or walking any distance is getting too difficult. My belly starts to tighten and those contractions are more likely to occur if I'm up and about. So, although I'm not officially on bedrest, I've basically given myself orders to restrict my activities.

Today, Jamey and I made a trip to Target. To make it easier on me, I rode around in one of those motorized carts. It was a bit embarassing, but it sure made it easier for me to get around that huge store!

We've got an appointment with our regular doctor on Tuesday morning and I'm expecting she will give me orders for either limited activity or bedrest. This may include either only working from home or limiting my work hours, as well. I'm thinking complete bedrest is a long shot. It seems I'm okay for SOME activity, but clearly not as much as before.

So Jamey is now on laundry and groceries duty, and any major housecleaning. He's not too thrilled about that, but I just point to my enormous belly and tell him to suck it up since I'm the one doing all the suffering!

We're hoping the babies stay in there for at least another month. I'm starting to believe that they'll be born right between Christmas and New Year's. It's going to be an interesting Christmas at our house this year!

Mural is finished!

The nursery mural got finished on Friday and today my cousin and his wife brought over a crib they are lending us -- so now we've got two.

 

While they were over, their daughters played on the rocking horses that my Dad made.

 

I also wanted to post a picture of these blankets that I made. One side of each blanket is made of crib sheets that my mother had for my brother and I but never used. When a good friend of mine got pregnant 12+ years ago, she gave the unopened packages to her. My friend never used them either and gave them back to me when I got married. They wouldn't do well as crib sheets because they don't have enough elastic, but I thought they would be fabulous blankets. So I put flannel on the back side, some batting to make them warm and blanket binding around the edges.

 

Last shower for the babies

My sorority sisters threw me a baby shower yesterday and we had such a fun time! Here are some pics....

Week 29

We had a doctor's appointment today and she said we're doing "extremely well." The babies are slightly larger than usual, so we're on track to have some good sized twins (which would be in the neighborhood of 6, maybe 7, pounds). No signs of pre-term labor or any other problems. The only other thing she told us was that it looks fairly certain that we'll have to have a c-section. Both babies are lying sideways and it's unlikely that they would move into head-down positions this late in the game.

Mural, so far

 

It's slow progress on the mural in the nursery. Here's where it's at right now. She's got all the characters and trees and birds, etc, drawn out. Sometime in the next week she's coming back to start painting in the colors.

Growing babies!

We had an ultrasound today and had more excellent news. Babies are about 3 pounds each right now -- which is about the same that a singleton would be at 30 weeks (we're just hitting 29 weeks). So that is really impressive for twins! And it's also good news that they are almost exactly the same size.

Mom is also doing well. Cervix is holding steady right where it should (a big concern once you get past 28 weeks) and the placenta that was blocking the exit has moved out of the way. All good news!

Unfortunately we didn't get any good pics once again. Don't know if we keep getting a bad sonographer or a bad machine or just that the babies aren't photogenic! UGH.

Election

My biggest piece of work related to the election appears in today's paper. The online version, found here, actually contains more of the maps that I made than what we were able to get into the paper. I actually started working on this series of maps way back in January (one of my "slow" months) using historical presidential election results. The maps show really interesting patterns in how Minnesotans have voted for presidents in the past 5 elections. I was really bummed that they couldn't find a page (with color) in the paper. Oh well.

Historic Day

I just cast my ballot and amazingly didn't have to wait -- at all. I was worried about a long line and having to stand (not easy with an extra 40 pounds weighing you down!). Guess I hit the polling place at just the right time.

I'm really excited about this election. Such a historic day! We're either going to have the first black president or the first female vice president. Either way, it's a great step forward for the US. I'm glad my children will be born into this "new" world where somebody other than white men are in charge of the country. Even everything that has happened up until now -- a woman presidential candidate who had a real shot at the White House and a black man generating unprecedented levels of enthusiasm and the renewed interest among young people -- is just so wonderful.

Week 27

 

Wow, look at that belly! It's quite a bit bigger than the last picture I posted, which I think was way back in week 18! We've been a bit negligent in taking belly pics.

Pooh mural

 

 

Our one splurge in the babies' nursery is going to be a wall mural of the picture above (it's shown here in two pics cause it's scanned from two pages of a book).

This is from a classic Pooh book that belonged to me as a child (can't believe I still have it!). It's going to be painted just above the tops of the cribs along two walls of the nursery. The characters will be about 14 inches high, each. The trees will be in the corner between the two walls.

We found an artist through our multiples birth and parenting class. Turns out the mom of one of the other multiple moms does a lot of this kind of work. The artist -- Cheryl - came over a couple weeks ago and showed me pictures of some of her previous work and gave me an estimate. She starts work on it this coming Wednesday!

This is really the only splurge we're going to have in the nursery. The cribs and changing table are used and we're getting my mom's old wooden rocking chair (yes, she rocked me and my brother in it!).

Shower season

My round of baby showers has begun!

The first was last weekend at my aunt Ann's house in Stillwater. Along with my other aunt, Ann, and my friend, Dani, she threw a very classy brunch shower!

I got so many really fabulous gifts and it was such fun. The guests were a diverse collection of friends and family from all aspects of my life. I love those kinds of parties where the attendees don't know everyone else already.

My next shower is Saturday -- one for my colleagues at work. Then the following weekend my neighbors are throwing a small shower (probably just 5 people or so). And finally my sorority sisters join in the fun next month.

Last night Jamey and I attended a breastfeeding class. One of the other couples had been in our multiples class last month. They are 33 weeks along and the doctors think she's going to give birth in the next two or three weeks! She was huge and obviously uncomfortable!

I'm at 26 weeks, so it was a bit heartstopping to hear her say it was coming so soon for her. But in reality, I'm looking at only about 10-12 more weeks, MAXIMUM. That's not a whole lot of time considering how fast the days and weeks go by.

Bootcamp

 

Tomorrow will be the last day of a week-long computer-assisted reporting bootcamp that I'm teaching for Investigative Reporters and Editors. This is a picture of our students, plus me and the other teacher (the woman standing next to me).

It's been a great week -- really enthusiastic, smart and ambitious students. We've covered a lot more material than most bootcamps normally do since they seem to be so far ahead of the curve.

It's been a really nice change of pace for me, although a lot more exhausting than my usual work. It's a good thing this isn't being held later in my pregnancy!

Professional blogger

I am now officially a professional blogger! I've been asked to be one of 6 "experts" on computer-assisted reporting to blog each month for Investigative Reporters and Editors (that organization I worked for when I was down in Missouri).

The new web site and blogs launched today and mine is one of the first to appear. There's a free two-week trial of the site (otherwise it's subscription), so you can see it for a short time here.

My little band

I've been feeling the babies kick more and more every day. Last night they treated me to somewhat of a concert....one baby kicked, then the other -- kind of in time with each other, a couple times in a row. It was like having my own little band! I'm sure in a couple months those "little" kicks will be a bit more painful, but for now they are just plain fun.

Week 22

We had an ultrasound yesterday and found that both babies are still doing great. They had good measurements and heartbeats and they were moving all over the place! And yes, it's still a boy and girl!

Also no signs of pre-term labor, yet, which is good. They will start getting more concerned about this after I get past 24 weeks -- and definitely after 28 weeks. With twins, this is the biggest problem.

The only negative news we had is that they confirmed I have "placenta previa." this just means that one of the placentas is sitting right above the cervix -- essentially blocking the opening. If it doesn't move (which it might) by 34 weeks, I would have no choice but to have a c-section. Considering about 60% of twin births are done by c-section (for various reasons), this isn't exactly unexpected news to us. But still, it's something the doctors will be watching and they will be a little concerned about. (there's also some risk of bleeding during pregnancy, but the ultrasound doctor didn't seem too concerned about it. we'll ask our regular doc next week)

Sorry no pictures this time. They only gave us a couple of them and they weren't very good. Apparently these measurement ultrasounds take a lot more time than the ones for a singleton and we essentially ran out of time for her to try to get them to "pose" for the camera. Oh well. Maybe next time.

Story: superintendent contracts

More work from yours truly in yesterday's Pioneer Press. We looked at school district superintendent contracts and wrote a fairly simply story looking at whether school districts have eliminated the lavish perks that the state auditor blasted them about 5 years ago. Our assessment: a few have, most haven't. In addition to the story, I built a searchable map where you can view PDFs of each superintendent's contracts and a searchable database of salaries of all licensed educators in the state.

Watch for another piece (although this is more graphical in nature) on tomorrow's front page.

Baby shopping!

I went to the St. Paul Moms of Multiples garage sale today and got so many great things for the babies!

My big find was a Pack-n-Play that has two bassinets on the top -- something you can't find in stores (have to order online) and it costs $200 new. This one was $75 and in mint condition. Such a deal!

Then I got the bathtub I wanted, a Baby Bjorn and a sling (that both look brand new), a bunch of really cute sleepers and hats, a JJ Cole Bundle me ($5!!), a big package of Gerber soft-bite spoons, a couple parenting books, and a couple crib sheets that can be backups or ones we take to the cabin.

It was quite a haul -- all for the price that I would've paid for the Pack-n-Play if I had bought it new!

The other day somebody gave Jamey, for free, two walker/exersaucer kinds of things, plus a bag of small baby toys.

Then this afternoon a good friend of mine brought over a nice collection of girls clothes (all different sizes) and a big stash of maternity clothes. I think this is the 5th big stash of clothes I've gotten on loan, plus a handful of other items from two others. Tomorrow I'm getting even more from another friend. So I'm pretty well dressed these days. It's fun having a good variety of things to choose from.

Happy Birthday, Jamey!

Happy Birthday to my husband! He turned 35 years old today and seems to be taking this milestone in stride. For me, 35 was a bit more traumatic.

Registries are done

It's amazing how much work it takes to figure out (and pick out) what you are going to need for two babies. I'm sure it's about the same even just for one. Walking into Babies R Us and feeling daunted by the rows and rows of "stuff" is a weird feeling.

But I just kept reminding myself that we don't need everything! Heck, my parents didn't have vibrating bouncy seats, diaper genies, bottle warmers, etc. We spent a good deal of time in these "car seats" that were basically just a seat with a carrying handle -- nothing really safe about them. I think that's how my parents managed to move two of us around at the same time. And my poor dad got the horrible job of washing out cloth diapers every morning before going to work. Pampers were "new" back then and my parents couldn't afford to use them on a regular basis. (Apparently they did use them when we traveled, though)

Nonetheless, it was kind of fun to pick out things that hopefully my little ones will enjoy -- or that will make my life a bit easier!

We set up three registries -- each with slightly different stuff. The biggest one is at Babies R Us (either online or in the store), the second is at Target (also online or in the store) and the third is online only at Amazon. The Amazon one is loaded mainly with books, since you can find a much greater selection there than at the other stores.

We have three baby showers already scheduled, a fourth being planned and we're expecting at least one other.

This weekend I'm going to a huge sale of used stuff put on by the St. Paul Moms of Multiples. I joined the group, which means I get first dibs. And apparently they let the pregnant members in the door before all the other members! Nice. So I'm going to look for some of the bigger stuff that we'll be less likely to get as gifts, particularly the things that I want more than one of or that are very specific to multiples and can't be found in your average store (like a double baby carrier -- kind of like a Baby Bjorn -- and a twin nursing pillow).

Applesauce 2008

I made my first batch of applesauce for the year, yielding 14 pints! I used some of the earlier varieties of apples, which aren't as sweet as the later ones so I had to add some sugar to this batch. This time I used 2 pecks of apples -- 1/2 each of the following: Paula Red, Wealthy, Macintosh and Beacon (not quite a full peck of Beacon, since I kept some of those for eating).

I'm planning to do a second batch at the end of September when the sweeter varieties will be ready.

Misc updates

We had a regular doctor appointment today and the babies seem to still be doing just fine, and so am I, despite a few more "discomforts" lately. Sleeping on my side is proving to be a real challenge and every night is an exercise in trial-and-error. Some nights I sleep well, some nights I don't. UGH.

Tonight we have the first session in a three-part birth and parenting class specifically for parents of multiples. I'm really excited for this! We met a couple who has 14-month old boy-girl twins who also took this class and they raved about it. I'm excited about meeting some other couples who are currently pregnant with twins, too.

Other news: I don't think I've written on here about the fact that Jamey quit his job. The job was just plain bad for him and it was becoming a huge stressor on both of us. He's been off work now for almost a month. His plan: starting his own business. Technically it's going to be more than 1 business. The first is his computer services company (which he had before but it had languished). The second is a handyman services (since he has every tool known to mankind!). And the third will be landlord.

We're looking at a duplex rental property in St. Paul that we're going to get for a steal because it's under foreclosure. The house needs some work, but nothing too radical that Jamey can't do himself. Plus it has a detached garage that he's thinking about using as his workshop for carpentry and other handyman projects.

It's kind of a gamble because you never know what kind of tenants you're going to get. But the numbers seem to indicate we can make money off it rather easily. Plus since Jamey doesn't have a full-time job, he'll actually have time to deal with issues that come up.

I think that's it for now!

Week 19 - unexpected peek

We got an unexpected peek at the babies today because I had to have an unplanned ultrasound. The good news is that both babies are fine and that there wasn't any sign of pre-term labor. Yeah! The other good news is that we got a second confirmation that it is a boy and a girl. Yeah!

I had to have the ultrasound because I've had severe abdominal pain since Sunday night, including two sleepless nights. We went to the hospital early Monday morning (they have a maternal assessment center, which is kind of like an ER for pregnant women) and they said it was "ligament pain" caused by a growth spurt in the babies stretching my uterus out more than it likes. They tested me to make sure I didn't have a urinary tract infection (common in pregnancy) or that I was having contractions. And they checked the babies' heartbeats. They told me to take Tylenol, lay on my side and use warm packs on the pain area. That did absolutely nothing.

Monday night I had contractions during the night, which of course, freaked me out. (contractions are extremely common in multiple pregnancies and are normal, but you usually don't feel them very intensely). These were intense and the doctor later said it was likely due to the fact that I was already in pain.

So this morning I got an appointment with my regular doctor and that turned out to be a blessing. She found a fibroid growing kind of between the two babies and she thinks that is exacerbating the pain from the ligament pulling. Fibroids are also common in pregnancy, especially among "older" moms like me, but unfortunately there's nothing they can do about them. Usually they go away after giving birth. So the bad news is that I'm likely to have at least some of this pain for the duration.

My doctor thinks the babies are just going through a growth spurt and that the ligament pain should subside. To help me manage the pain -- and more importantly -- get some sleep, she prescribed Tylenol with codeine. So far that isn't helping a whole lot, though. UGH. If the pain is still persistent in the morning, I'll be going back to the doctor again.

The ultrasound showed that the babies are growing really well. They remain ahead of where they are expected to be in terms of size (which is awesome!) and heartbeats and everything look really good.

The picture marked "baby A" is the boy. He's currently on my left side, with his head down. The girl baby (picture is not labeled) is on my right side, in breech (just like I was!). It's still possible they will move around more, but at some point in a month or two, there won't be any more room for them to get around. These aren't the greatest ultrasound images -- we think the machine they used was kind of old. Oh well. It's still fun to see them.

 

 

Rocking horses for the twins

This weekend, I got my husband to crawl up into the attic of the garage at our cabin where I was sure we'd fine some treasures from my childhood. And we did find exactly what I had hoped for: These rocking horses that my father built for my twin brother and I for our first Christmas. They are in amazingly-good shape. A little cleaning and maybe a couple paint touchups and they'll be all set for the next generation of twins!

Here are some pics...one of my brother and I (I'm on the right) at Christmas 1971 and another of the rocking horses as they look now.

 

 

Week 18

 

This is the halfway point of my pregnancy and I definitely look pregnant now! My belly has turned into a bowling ball, making it real fun to roll over in bed and put on my socks. :-)

RNC

Downtown St. Paul is getting quite the transformation as a result of next week's big Republican National Convention, which is being held at the Xcel Energy Center. That's just four blocks from my office, so I've had a front-row seat to a lot of the changes.

Nearly every building around here has been getting polished, sidewalks power-washed, new signs, etc. Even the Pioneer Press installed a new sign on our building the other day!

There are a ton of new shops and restaurants -- one featuring "custom" candy, several featuring high-end fashion accessories and a fun, new restaurant called "Pop!". It'll be interesting to see how many pull out in a couple of weeks when all the traffic goes away.

There are lots and lots of trucks around fixing things, installing things, etc. Rice Park is getting a major TV stage set up in it. I saw city crews planting new plants (yes, in August!) in some new planters over near the Ecolab building -- which is one of the places that protesters will be congregating.

Of course, I'll be working all next week. Not sure yet what I'm going to be doing. It sounds like I'm going to end up filling whatever needs come up.

I've also built some database applications that I'll be putting on our website later today, including one that lists official and unofficial events related to the RNC that our staff have compiled from press releases, etc. (right now we've got more than 400 events in there and we're fairly certain we're missing a lot!). Another is an interactive map of the hotels where all the delegations are staying. And the final one is a new version of the Ramsey County Jail Bookings that I've had on our website for awhile. the new version is more sophisticated and contains more details about each arrest. I've been planning to launch it for awhile and need to do it now because anyone jailed or detained by police for protests will show up on these lists.

It'll be interesting to see how busy and crazy downtown St. Paul is next week. We're so accustomed to quiet streets and sidewalks (it's kind of a ghost town, especially after 6 pm). Of course, getting to and from work will probably be a bit of a pain! Luckily I come into downtown via a route that doesn't go anywhere near the Xcel, so that should help a lot.

Feed my inbox

For those of you who want to keep up with my blog, but always forget to come check out this site (and aren't already using an RSS feeder), then this is for you.

Go to this website called Feed My Inbox, put in the URL for my blog and your email address. The site will automatically email you when I put a new post on my blog!

Spaghetti sauce

Today I successfully made (and canned!) my first batch of homemade spaghetti sauce -- from tomatoes I grew myself.

We put in 8 tomato plants at the start of the summer and they are just hitting full stride in yielding fruit. The recipe I'm using, from a friend of mine, only requires pureeing the tomatoes -- don't need to blanch -- so it's really easy. I've been pureeing batches as I get too many to eat and freezing the puree.

Each batch of sauce makes 4 to 5 quarts. Today I got 4 quarts, plus a little extra that I froze. Plus I've got 2 more quarts of puree waiting in the freezer -- I'll probably have enough for another batch of sauce by next weekend.

To go with the new sauce I also tried a new recipe for homemade italian meatballs. My husband is really picky on his meatballs and somehow I stumbled on exactly the right recipe! They were a big hit!

List of sites that teach you stuff

I found this blog posting kind of interesting....a list of websites that teach you how to do things. Most are web-oriented things -- like making a video or a podcast. But it's worth a peek.

It's a Boy! It's a Girl!

Excellent news today....We're having one of each!
Our ultrasound showed baby A is a boy and Baby B is a girl. Exactly what we wanted. And they were both in perfect condition...both are about 5 ounces and all their measurements came in where it's supposed to. Doctor was very pleased. Here are a few of the ultrasound pics....

the first one shows both of them, but it's really hard to tell. The second is the boy and the final one is the girl -- showing her feet crossed at the ankles. Cute!

Babies update

We got to hear our babies' heartbeats today! It was so much fun. One of them was moving around so much that the doctor had a hard time getting a reading. You could hear these little sounds (kind of like a swoosh) that the doctor said were movements. Very cool.

Our doctor visit was with our new OB -- a woman who has a lot of experience with multiples. I was pleased with her and like what I'm hearing from her (for example, her philosophy on bed rest is to avoid it unless there is a serious medical complication that requires it....I've heard some doctors just automatically order it with multiples regardless of your condition!).

She said my size was good and heartbeats were good -- meaning it appears that everyone is growing properly. We're scheduled for another ultrasound on Friday. This one is going to do some further genetic screening (we all passed the first round of screening). They are being extra cautious -- because of my age we have a 1 in 80 chance that 1 of the babies would have something like Down's syndrome. Very scary. This next test will be more conclusive than the earlier screenings, and if they find anything on this, then we will be scheduled for amniocentesis. Hopefully it won't get to that.

We're hopeful that maybe the ultrasound on Friday will also give us the unexpected gift of showing us the genders! Normally they don't look for this until the 20th week, but I've heard that sometimes you can see it this early. So we've got our fingers crossed. If we don't see it, then they'll be another ultrasound scheduled for the 20th week (which would be the week of Sept 8th).

The doctor told me I should expect to have to reduce my work hours after we pass the 28th week (which would be the start of November) and probably completely quit working by around Christmas. I was kind of expecting that anyway. I'm gearing up for the likelihood that I'll be pretty well planted in a recliner or bed for the most part once we get past December 1st.

In other baby news....we've started the fun process of buying stuff. Right now I'm scoping for gently-used car seats, stroller frame, cribs and stuff like that. There is a lot of used stuff out there that is in perfectly good condition and way, way cheaper than the new stuff. We'd rather go that route -- especially on the things you only use for 6 months -- and save our money for more important things (like the millions of diapers we're going to need!).

We'll also start setting up registries soon. I won't finalize that, though, until we know the genders.

I also got a list of pre-natal class options today, so I'll be signing us up for some of those. There's even a multiples class in September which we will definitely sign up for.

Babies bump Week 15

 
We've hit week 15! Everybody seems to be doing okay. We have an appointment tomorrow with a new OB who is an expert in multiples. So we'll have more news after that.

Quads!

A good friend of mine who is a reporter down in Florida just published this amazing story about a woman who just gave birth to quads! I just can't even imagine!

The scariest part of this story is that these quads were NATURAL. No fertility drugs. Dave (the story's author) says that's something like a 1 in a million chance occurrence. Unbelievable.

Dave knows a thing or two about multiple births and the NICU -- he and his wife, Darla, had twin boys who were very premature. I think they were something like 2 pounds each. They are now 2 years old and doing well!

State worker salaries

We joined the pack of other newspapers around the country that have posted searchable databases of public employee salaries. Ours launched this morning with state workers, county workers from our immediate area and city of St. Paul workers. Needless to say, it's already the most popular thing on our website and they day has just begun!

The database goes along with a package of stories (second one coming tomorrow) on how the state has a unique salary cap that limits government workers' pay to a percentage of the governor's salary. The problem is that the guv hasn't had a raise in 10 years! So that means there are a lot of other people who haven't had raises either.

I built the searchable database in a product called ASP.NET -- this is my first go at a .NET application and I'm pleased with the results! The reporter, Rachel Stassen-Berger, and I have been working on this since the start of the year. UGH. We're very glad to have it done.

Wolff family party 2008

This weekend we went to our annual summer "birthday" party with my Wolff family relatives (my mom's family). There are three sections of the family and we're all busy having kids these days. This year there were 6 kids age 3 and under, plus 2 older kids. Needless to say, it was chaos. One of the pictures in this slide pretty well sums it all up! You'll also see we also got some baby presents for the twins! Next year they'll be about 6 or 7 months old when we have this party and they'll certainly add to the chaos.

Double the fun

So the news that many of you are probably already expecting: We're pregnant!
And the news that is just a bit more shocking: It's twins!

Yep. Two of 'em. ....Really.

We are super excited! We had our second ultrasound today to confirm that they both made it through the first trimester. They were just fabulous! Both were larger than would be expected at this stage (11 weeks) and both had good, strong heartbeats. They were jumping around a little...it was so cute to watch. It's fairly certain they are fraternal (but of course, the docs won't EVER give you a 100% until they are born), but we won't know gender for a few more weeks.

Technically they are due Jan. 26th, but twins never go the full 40 weeks. A full-term twin pregnancy would be 37 or 38 weeks, and typically they are born even earlier than that. So we're hoping for sometime between Christmas and the middle of January. The closer we can get to the middle of January, the bigger they will be and less likely they would need to go into the NICU.

The doctor has already told us that it's highly likely I'll have to go on either partial or full bedrest at some point along the way. I'm basically planning that I'll be pretty well laid up by about the start of December, if not earlier. We want to do everything necessary to make sure they are healthy and strong and as close to full term as possible!

As for how I'm doing....I've been thanking my lucky stars that I seem to be one of those blessed women who doesn't get morning sickness. Not even a tad bit! It was quite amazing. I was extremely, extremely tired for several weeks, but that has now subsided.

And because there are two, I'm starting to show. I'm ready to make the switch to maternity clothes! (Anybody willing to give or lend me some, I'd be grateful!!). This may have something to do with the fact that it seems like all I do these days is eat, eat, eat! Boy are they hungry little ones!

I'm sure my parents are sitting up in heaven laughing their butts off. This must be my mom's way of serving retribution for all the hell my twin brother and I put her through! I'm sure she's just smiling, thinking, "Now it's her turn! Ha!" Seriously, though, I'm kind of jazzed about the idea of having two generations of twins in a row.

Heartbreaking song

There's a new song on country music called "You can let go" by a new artist named Crystal Shawanda. The first time I heard it, I just started bawling because it reminded me so much of my own father. This is what I told him as he was dying in the hospital last year.

Here are the lyrics, but I highly recommend going to listen to it online or on the radio....

You Can Let Go - Crystal Shawanda

Wind blowin' on my face
Sidewalk flyin' beneath my bike
A five year-old's first taste
Of what freedom's really like
He was runnin' right beside me
His hand holdin' on the seat
I took a deep breath and hollered
As I headed for the street

Chorus
You can let go now, Daddy
You can let go
Oh, I think I'm ready
To do this on my own
(It's still) (It still feels) a little bit scary
But I want you to know
I'll be okay now, Daddy
You can let go

I was standin' at the altar
Between the two loves of my life
To one I've been a daughter
To one I soon would be a wife
When the preacher asked,
'Who gives this woman?'
Daddy's eyes filled up with tears
He kept holdin' tightly to my arm
'Til I whispered in his ear

(Repeat Chorus)

It was killin' me to see
The strongest man I ever knew
Wastin' away to nothin'
In that hospital room
'You know he's only hangin' on for you'
That's what the night nurse said
My voice and heart were breakin'
As I crawled up in his bed, and said

You can let go now, Daddy
You can let go
Your little girl is ready
To do this on my own
It's gonna be a little bit scary
But I want you to know
I'll be okay now, Daddy
You can let go
You can let go

Sweat Equity

We got an email yesterday that said we've been rejected. Our project is "too big". That's a scary thought. UGH.

Memory garden finished!

I'm happy to say we put the finishing touches on my memory garden at the cabin today. Although I still want to put a flagpole, or perhaps bird feeder, on the metal post that is in the garden (from a flagpole that Dad had there that belonged to his girlfriend). Otherwise it's done. Take a look at the slideshow below for pics of the garden, plus one of the lake -- which you can see is significantly higher than last year! But we have lots of weeds instead.

Interview is done!

We had our interview with Sweat Equity today. Someone from a local production company came out with a video camera and still camera, interviewed us on camera and took a bunch of pictures of the house and us. She said we were more "entertaining" than most of the people she interviews -- which is a key factor they look at -- so that was good. But that's no guarantee we'll get picked or that we'd ultimately do it. We found out that the show kicks in $4,000 toward your project, plus usually gets you freebies from manufacturers. But will that be enough to make it worth our time and headache? (we'd have to do the project under their 2 to 6 week deadline).

Sweat Equity: Big step forward!

A camera crew is coming to our house on Monday to interview us as potential candidates for the DIY television show, "Sweat Equity." You might remember that I blogged about this awhile back (here) but it sounded like we were going to be rejected. Last Friday they called, though, and said they wanted to send a scouting crew to our house!! We are so unbelievably thrilled. So this crew will come on Monday, for about 45 minutes. They'll film us with the intention of getting a sense of our style, how we are on camera, what we want to do with the house (our kitchen/addition remodeling project) and stuff like that.

The producers will review the tape and make a decision in a couple weeks. Apparently one of the factors that plays into the decision is whether or not they have two projects in close proximity to each other that they can film at the same time.

So cross your fingers! I'll post more after the scouting visit on Monday.

Childhood obesity

I stumbled across an interesting site that offers an "energy calculator" to help parents figure out how much food their child needs. As the site points out, children should not be put on "diets" but I'm sure it is difficult to estimate how much a growing child needs -- especially since that probably changes from year to year, if not month to month, when they are growing a lot.

Let summer begin!

Even though the calendar says otherwise, I think Memorial Day is the real kickoff of summer. That's the first big "cabin" weekend for us and that was true again this year.

We got the pontoon in the water yesterday, but the speed boat will take a few more weeks as there's some maintenance that my husband has to do before it hits the water.

But we spent most of our weekend in the yard -- raking and gardening. My memory garden is coming along, but I forgot to take the camera to get some new pictures. Next time! We got the majority of the yard work done, but there's still a couple more hours' worth of work when we go back in two weeks.

We also got a pretty nasty storm on Sunday afternoon that stalled some of our work. And we went up to my aunt and uncle's place near Minong for late Sunday afternoon-evening.

Elevators

If you spend any amount of time riding in elevators, you'll want to take the stairs after reading this article in the New Yorker magazine (my favorite magazine, by the way!).

The central tale in the story is about a New York man who was trapped in an elevator for 41 hours! Apparently there's even a video of it on U Tube now.

Food waste

This story from the NY Times is scary: one pound of food per American, per day ends up in the trash. The story outlines not only the environmental concerns with this (rotting food releases methane), but also the fact that the money spent on that food could've been used to feed starving people elsewhere.

Less trash

In an effort to live a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle, I've started finding ways to cut how much trash I generate. Here are some of the things I've done...

The first was to switch to reusable grocery bags. That has gotten a lot easier since I started this last year now that all the big stores are selling bags at very reasonable prices. I just leave the bags in the back of my car so that I have them when I get to the store. After a couple trips, it became second-nature to grab them.

More recently, I've tried to eliminate my use of ziploc bags. I found that I was taking at least two baggies every day for my lunch and it seemed like such a waste. So I've mostly switched to putting the food in reusable containers (such as old margarine or cottage cheese containers). For the bags that I do use, I just purchased a "Bag-E-Wash" -- invented by a fellow Minnesotan! -- that allows you to wash baggies in the dishwasher. How cool is that?!

When I was a kid, we used to make fun of my Grandmother for washing and re-using plastic silverware, cups and plates. She was excessively frugal, having come of age during the Great Depression. When she died in 1983, we even found washed plastic cups from my parents wedding reception back in 1969. Now it seems we're coming full circle!

I also bought some cheap cloth napkins to use at home, rather than paper napkins. I found some basic white ones on clearance at JCPenney.

I've been trying -- although this one is harder -- to use the hand air dryers in public restrooms (including at work) rather than the paper towels whenever possible. At work we have both, but the dryers are old and not very fast. But I'm trying!

I've been recycling for years, but I started putting more paper products in the recycle bin, particularly all that junk mail. Speaking of which....one of the next things I want to do is to go to those websites where you can get your address removed from junk mail lists.

We've switched almost all of our bills to electronic -- so we don't even get a paper bill in the mail. All our bills are paid through online banking. Amazing how much money that saves, especially now that stamps have gone up in price again.

If you've got any ideas for other steps I can take, send them along!

Teen drivers stats

I've got another story in today's Pioneer Press looking at statistics on teen drivers in fatal crashes. The story is a fairly "quick-hit" kind of piece in reaction to controversy over the stats used by legislators -- and the Strib -- in talking about a proposal in the Legislature to adopt graduated licensing requirements. In addition to that main story, here's a sidebar that I wrote.

Obama amazes me

I listened to Barack Obama's victory speech last night after the North Carolin and Indiana primaries. It was nearly as impressive as the first time I heard him -- at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. It's worth listening to. Here's a video of it on the NY Times web site.

Changing habits

There's a really fascinating article in the New York Times about changing habits and being innovative. Worth the read!

Standing the day away

I made a big switch at work today to an adjustable desk that I can raise up to standing height for at least part of the day. I'm waiting for an anti-fatigue mat that I ordered before I can really put it to use. Standing on this hard floor without some kind of mat is really hard on the feet and calves (which I discovered after less than 2 hours of standing today). I'm hoping the standing will alleviate a bunch of problems, including: 1) help me keep the weight off (supposedly you burn one-third more calories by standing!) 2) Prevent me from slouching, which causes neck and back problems and 3) the lack of slouching might help my wrist pain.

Speaking of that....I saw a hand surgeon yesterday who says I've got tendinitis, not carpal tunnel. That's sort of good news. The bad news is that there isn't really anything they can do, except a steroid shot to alleviate the pain and swelling. Bottom line is that I need to find ways to minimize putting undo stress on my wrists. UGH.

New job

I keep forgetting to post a note about my husband getting a new job! He started two weeks ago at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. It's an IT job managing new computer software that helps them manage the various construction projects they've got going at the various campuses. He's based in the chancellor's office, which is just two blocks from my office in downtown St. Paul.

So, we've been commuting to work together to save on gas and parking. So far it's working pretty well. It's different, though, being tied to a specific schedule. I used to come and go whenever I wanted -- sometimes coming in late or early or whatever suited me. Now we have a pretty rigid 8:30 to 5:30 schedule.

Other news: Jamey and his buddies got the dock and boat lift into the water up at the cabin this weekend despite frigid waters! Yeah, guys! That means that I don't have to get in the water. Yippee. This is probably the earliest -- and coldest -- we've ever put the dock in. If they didn't get it in this weekend, we would've been doing it on Memorial Day weekend. Jamey is going to be traveling the next two weekends to and from a training seminar in California for his new job.

My story gets attention

The Pioneer Press opinion page weighed in today on contamination from leaking underground storage tanks. From a reporter's perspective, it's always a good sign when the editorial page pays attention to what you're writing!

Me on the front page

Today's Pioneer Press front page features a story by yours truly. This is the first significant story I've reported and written on my own since I started at the Pioneer Press three years ago. The last time I did my own story was at USA Today when I wrote about Hispanic girls in sports.

This story has some history. You might remember that I wrote about leaking underground storage tanks for a major investigation in the Kansas City Star. I spent 18 months working on that story, so I learned a ton about this topic. That story talked about how regulations for underground tanks in the 1990s were flawed and that tanks were continuing to leak despite the fact that they supposedly met the requirements under the law that was intended to prevent leaks.

So about a month ago, I was shocked to learn that states are not "fixing" those rules because of the very same problems we wrote about back in 2001. Minnesota adopted their new rules last month, so I saw the perfect opportunity to get this story in the paper.

I knew that the Pioneer Press environmental reporter was tied up covering the state legislature and my knowledge of the topic would make it possible for me to get this story into the paper quicker than anybody else. So I decided to pitch it to the bosses and they loved the idea.

It was kind of fun to put my reporter hat back on again, but it also reminded me of some of the less pleasant parts of being a reporter. So tomorrow I'm going back to my CAR duties again. Although I'm helping another reporter on a major story and will do some reporting this week on that one as well. So watch for another big story in the not-too-distant future!

This is so true...

This study from the University of Michigan finds that a husband creates an additional 7 hours of housework per week for a wife, while being married only creates an additional 1 hour per week for the husband. The study looked at single people in their 20s and compared how much housework they did then to how much done by those who were married.

Solo byline

Today's Pioneer Press Life section features an article from yours truly that is the first solo-bylined article I've written in a long time. It's also a huge departure from my usual work. The article is about the proliferation of web sites that help you become a better person. I've come across quite a few in the past year and after hearing about a new one called "StickK", I thought perhaps I should pitch it as a story idea. The editors of the Life section jumped at it.

I'm working on another story of my own that is about a week away from publication. I'll let you know when it hits.

FOIA battle goes public

We've finally decided to take public our 4-year FOIA battle for data on H1B visa holders. Customs & Immigration have put us through the wringer and we've gotten stuck in their massive backlog of requests. We're afraid we might be stuck in this for ANOTHER four years. The story doesn't do justice to the many back-and-forths and idiotic experiences associated with this request -- we didn't want the story to come off as whining because we haven't gotten what we wanted. Instead we wanted to shed light on the fact that **nobody** knows much of anything about this visa program because of the lack of data and delays in reports from CIS.

As you'll see in the story ,they actually sent us data back in January. But it is basically swiss cheese. Whole fields completely empty; others with very few records filled out. Essentially it's worthless because the empty fields are the ones holding the information everybody really wants. The kicker for me was the letter that came with the data that said: "There may be blank fields contained within the database due to the compilation." Jeez.

Mom and Dad

A cousin of mine asked for a digital picture of my parents to include in a digital collage at her upcoming wedding, so it gave me reason to finally scan the last good picture that was taken of my parents together. Until now, I only had a paper copy. This is from 1993, a few months before Mom first got sick. It seems like just yesterday.

 

Emma

Our good friends Sheena and Erick had their baby girl, Emma, on Friday. Here's a (really bad) pic from this afternoon when they got home.

 

Another of our good friends, Mike and Annette, just got home late last week from Korea, where they adopted their son, Garrett. Pictures are on their blog.

Cranberry Delight Spread

I made this cracker spread for my birthday party last weekend and it was a huge hit! I could see putting this on bagels for breakfast, too.

Ingredients:
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 tablespoon sugar
Zest of 1 orange
1/8 teaspoon cinnmon
1/4 cup finely chopped dried cranberries (Craisins)
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, orange juice, sugar, orange zest and cinnamon on medium speed until fluffy.

Stir in cranberries and pecans. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Makes 12 servings.

Work takes its toll

I guess I'm getting old. Or working too much. I've been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome -- in both arms. After almost three months of pain in my right arm, and more recent pain in my left arm (after I switched to a left mouse to relieve my right hand!), I finally went to my doctor. she recommended I get rid of the mouse and use a touchpad instead -- so I got one of those -- and I've got wrist braces. She wants me to wear them all the time, including in my sleep, for at least two weeks. If the pain doesn't go away by then, I'll have to go to a hand surgeon. If it does go away, then I can just wear the braces while I'm on the computer. UGH.

Not quite what I'd call journalism, but...

I just spent the better part of the past week building this web application to search and "rate" the entries in the Pioneer Press' annual Marshmallow Peeps Diorama contest. Yes, that's right. Peeps. We got more than 500 entries every year! The ones here are just the ones that were submitted electronically. We probably have another 50 to 100 that came in via snail mail. This database will get more traffic in 1 hour than most of our pages will get in one whole day! So it's paying my paycheck for this month. :-)

UPDATE: The database had more than 200,000 page views in its first three days online and it continues to go up. My boss was thrilled, needless to say.

Living locally

I'm reading an interesting non-fiction book right now by one of my favorite authors, Barbara Kingsolver. The book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" is about how her family spent a year attempting to eat only foods grown either on their own farm or within the local community. It's an interesting chronicle of growing your own food -- including chickens and turkeys that they butchered themselves -- and a reminder of how different grocery store food is from the home-grown variety. It's got me to thinking that I should try to freeze or can vegetables and fruit that I buy this summer from the local farmer's markets, and save it for next winter when good produce is in short supply. Here's the website that goes with the book.

Bad contractors

Today's Pioneer Press has a story about problems with bad home building and remodeling contractors that I originally suggested. We tried to analyze data on the state's enforcement actions against contractors, but their database was in such bad condition that we couldn't do much with it. But it did help inform Deb's reporting and helped make for a better story.

Sweat Equity update

Well we got a response on our application to the DIY television show, Sweat Equity. They said they've filled all their slots for the current season, but will keep us in mind for the future. I guess that's a polite way of telling us to go away. :-)

We also submitted an application to a Canadian show called "Holmes on Homes" where the guy goes into homes that have been screwed up by bad contractors and he fixes them up. Our case isn't quite as extreme as some of the ones we've seen on his show, but we figured it was worth a shot. Also, it isn't clear if they will come into the States to shoot an episode (although the form you filled out on their site included pull-down menus for the US and its states). So we'll see how that goes.

In the meantime, last weekend we started installing a closet organizer in the guest room closet. We bought the materials a couple months ago and never got around to installing. Of course, once we got started, we changed our minds on the configuration and ended up returning a whole bunch of pieces to Home Depot and buying a whole new set of stuff! Hopefully we can get that finished in the next few days.

Home assessments story

I've got a big story in today's edition of the Pioneer Press about how the system for assessing home values is inherently flawed -- thousands of homes in the Twin Cities are either over-assessed or under-assessed, meaning they pay more or less in taxes than they should. By industry standards, the counties here are doing fine. But from a homeowners perspective, it's a different story. Here's the main story. Here's the "how we did it" piece. And here's some data that I put online to accompany the story (this is the really geeky stuff we didn't put in the paper). The reporter, Jennifer Bjorhus, and I have been working on this off and on since the end of last summer.

My sewing success

I don't consider myself the most talented at sewing, however I'm proud of one of my most recent projects. Watch the slideshow below to see the fabric book that I made for my best friend's daughter's first birthday. I can't even begin to tell you how many hours this took and how painstaking the work was! I have many friends with kids that age who I'd love to make more of these for, but I'm too exhausted from this one. My reward was that Eden absolutely loved it. And so did her parents.

Dictionary.com/Word of the Day Archive/rara avis

One of the more interesting words I've come across....
Dictionary.com/Word of the Day Archive/rara avis

CAR conference

I spent the latter part of last week and the weekend in Houston, Texas for the annual computer-assisted reporting conference. This is the one time all year when I get to see all my fellow journalism geeks, and it's always exciting, exhilerating and exhausting all at the same time.

I have attended every conference since 1999 (my first was in Boston, and remains one of my all-time favorites!), and I'm still amazed that I always learn something new and that I always come away feeling like I have so much yet to learn! How is that possible?! There are always a handful of the uber-geeks who are racing out ahead of the rest of us learning something newer, better, faster, cooler, etc. They just stun me every year.

Thankfully I count most of them among my good friends and can call or email them at any time and get a flood of help whenever I need it. :-) They are my saviors.

My other favorite part about the conference is that I get to teach people who are newer to this than I am. For the last few years I've taught an advanced Excel class that is hugely popular. This year after the class, I got stopped in the hotel lobby or outside the conference area or wherever by at least a half dozen people telling me how fabulous my class was. Then when I got back to my office I had three emails from people thanking me! Makes me feel really good to be able to help them. After all, there are so many other people in the CAR world that helped me along the way.

Amazing that this August will be 9 years since I started at Mizzou, which is also the point in time when I really started doing CAR full-time. I can't believe it's been that long! But the conference also reminded me that there are others who have been doing CAR for 20 years. Wow.

Sweat Equity

We've submitted an application to the DIY network TV show, "Sweat Equity" to come help us with the largest project remaining on our to-do list: finishing the addition on the back of the house and remodeling the kitchen. We haven't heard back from them - yet - but we're hopeful! We think our story is fairly compelling. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Savin' money!

We got our first utility bill today since our attic got its new winter coat. It was a whopping $100 cheaper than our previous month's bill! And since temperatures have been roughly the same, we have to attribute most of it to the new insulation. I have to admit we also finally got around to programming our thermostat so that the temp drops during the day and while we're sleeping, so I expect that helped a bit too.

Barley-Almond Pilaf

I tried a new recipe tonight and this one is definitely a hit. It tastes great, plus is loaded with protein and fiber, and not very many calories. A great substitute for potatoes or rice.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup pearled barley (I used medium barley)
2 cups chicken broth (I used low-sodium version)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup toasted almonds, crushed (I bought "Almond Accents" from the produce section. They are already slivered, toasted & flavored)

Heat olive oil in a medium-size heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add barley and stir constantly for 2 minutes.

Pour chicken broth into the pan and bring to a boil (let it boil for a couple minutes). Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook until barley is almost tender, about 30 minutes. Remove pilaf from heat and let stand 10 minutes; season with salt and pepper and stir in almonds.

Cabin in winter

 

We spent the weekend at the cabin, mainly to make sure the place was okay. We hadn't been there since Thanksgiving. Here's a pic of the big snow plow remains pile in front of our garage. My husband tried to run the heavy-duty snowblower through it and just managed to break the snowblower. Luckily we didn't have as much snow to trudge through to get into the house. You can also see my new car in this pic. We parked in the neighbor's driveway since we couldn't get into our own. It was a nice, relaxing weekend.

I got my Prius!

 

My Christmas present finally showed up today and we went to pick it up from the dealer this morning. It's an amazing car that rides nice, is easy on the fuel bill and is pretty snazzy looking too. One of the coolest features, though, is that it has a smart key. This means that you don't need to use it. Just having it in your purse or your pocket is enough. You walk up to the car and it automatically unlocks the driver door or the trunk (but not the side doors). Then when you get in, just hit the power button. When you get out, just touch a button on the door handle and it locks the car. If you accidentally leave the key inside, it won't lock and it will beep at you. The key is just a fob with buttons for locking/unlocking door and it has a real key folded down inside in case you ever need it. Cool, huh?!

It also has bluetooth connectivity to my phone so I can make and receive calls through the call while I'm driving. Won't have to touch the phone.

Of course it has GPS navigation and we're getting Sirius satellite radio, but they weren't able to install that this week (have to go back when we get the plates).

and the other great feature -- that is especially nice right now -- is that it has heated seats. Ahh.

Insulation man

 

I've been meaning to post this picture for a few weeks. This is what Jamey looked like when he came down from the attic after spending 3 1/2 hours blowing in cellulose insulation! It was hilarious. But we were too tired to laugh about it then. It was a grueling day -- and we never would've survived without help from our good friends Mike and Rick. But we could certainly notice a difference in the warmth inside our house immediately. The insulation that had been up there was 3 to 5 inches. You're supposed to have 12 to 18 inches. We blew in enough new stuff to bring it up to the 18 inches.

We're still working on the second attic portion that extends over part of the garage and an addition to the house (mostly the kitchen). And we're insulating and adding drywall to the garage, which is also desperately needed. The work out there has been slow going. So far Jamey's gotten an attic ladder installed and done some insulation on the garage walls.

Outcry before publication

A paper in upstate New York had to publish this interesting note from the editor because citizens have gotten in an uproar over the fact that the newspaper filed a public records request asking for a copy of the database on all gun permit holders. They haven't published anything yet. In fact, they haven't even gotten the data yet! Wow.

False Pretenses

My former employer, The Center for Public Integrity, just released a first-of-its-kind investigation into the untrue statements made by the Bush administration. The byline on the article is none other than Charles Lewis, the founder of CPI (and my old boss). He no longer works there full-time, so this must've been a special project.

The analysis shows how in the two years prior to the beginning of the Iraq War, the president and his top advisers issued 935 untrue statements, including the notion that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. It also says, "Nearly five years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, an exhaustive examination of the record shows that the statements were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."

Chuck was also on NPR this morning talking about this story.

I've been waiting for a story like this!

An ugly job

This weekend we're tackling an ugly and enormous job -- adding insulation to our attic. We got up there to find less than 7 inches, including some spots that were almost bare. A telling sign was that this morning, with an outside temp in the negative numbers, the roof inside the attic was covered in frost! Clearly we're losing a lot of hot air (and money!) out the roof.

So last weekend we made 3 trips to Menards to get 80 bales of blow-in insulations. Yes, I said 80. It's hard to believe we need that much, but we do if we want to get to the maximum 18 inches in thickness.

Today, Jamey and his co-worker, Rick, are installing vents in the eaves and tomorrow we'll get the blower machine and Jamey and his friend, Mike, will be blowing it all in there.

It's horrible work that I would've preferred to have hired out, but Jamey insisted it was a waste of money to pay somebody to do this when he had the know-how and ability. I'll be curious to see what his opinion is on this by the end of the weekend.

Best of 2007

Since everyone else seems to do the "best of" lists at the end of each year, I thought I'd throw out my favorites in a few categories.

Movies:
I didn't see very many in the theater this year, but the ones I did were generally top-notch. Here are the ones that moved me most:
1) Juno. Extremely well done movie. Great dialog, acting, storyline. Funny, sad, dramatic, all at the same time. It's hard to get that combination right.
2) Dan in real life. I usually don't like Steve Carrell but I really liked him here. He created a very lovable, endearing character and I was rooting for him to get the girl!
3) 3:10 to Yuma. I was quite surprised that I liked this one since I generally don't like westerns. But the acting was superb and the drama/tension kept me glued to the screen. I would've preferred a happy ending, though.
4) Michael Clayton. Great, old-fashioned drama with a solid performance from George Clooney.
5) Knocked Up. A little on the gross side, but I liked how this movie raised the societal issue of young guys acting like children. It's so true!
6) Music & Lyrics. Yes, it's cheesy but right up my alley.

There are several that I haven't seen yet, that I have high hopes for. Here's the list: Atonement, Love in the time of cholera, No country for old men and The Kite Runner.


Books:
I made it through some really great books this year -- including a couple that will probably reside in my top 5 for a long time to come. Here they are:
1) A thousand splendid suns. I could not put this one down. I was so moved by the two female characters and I felt sick over the horrible things they had to put up with, cried at the death of one of them and cheered when the other gets her reward.
2) Richistan. This is non-fiction written by a reporter from the Wall Street Journal who writes about the super rich. This book is just packed with detail about how these people live and how they live such different lives from the rest of us that they essentially have their own country that the author has named "Richistan." I think I plowed through this thing in something like three days.
3) The Kite Runner. Disturbing, moving account of two boys in Afghanistan. This one is probably better in terms of the writing quality than A thousand splendid suns (and won more awards), but I think I related to "suns" more because the characters were female. Still, Kite Runner was spell-binding and deeply moving. Wonderful characters.
4) Bridge of sighs. This is the latest from Richard Russo, who wrote Empire Falls -- my all-time favorite book. This one wasn't quite as good, but I liked it because Russo creates such wonderful, deep characters.

TV shows:
I'm starting to get ticked about the writers strike cause there's nothing to watch on TV. I'm subsisting on Netflix, re-runs of Gilmore Girls and movies on HBO. Not sure how much longer I can hold out.

Here are the shows I'm most anxious to see back:
1) Brothers & Sisters. Great cast. Great acting. Need I say more? Oh yeah, and Rob Lowe as eye candy.
2) Gray's Anatomy. I know this gets slammed for being too much of a soap opera, but who can't help but want to know what happens next?
3) Private Practice. This spin-off from Gray's has been thoroughly panned by the critics, but I like it cause it's an escape for me. They live in such a vastly different world than my own, I like to see what happens to them.
4) How I met your mother. This is one of the few shows my husband and I can agree on. The dialog is sharp and witty and they seem to keep coming up with entertaining storylines.
5) The Closer. This TNT drama with Kyra Sedgewick is fun to watch.
6) I'm also eagar to see "24" and Jack Bauer back on the air. It hasn't been on since last May and I haven't heard a peep about when it might be back.