Visitors & Outings

This blog post is in backwards chronological order. I hate the old Blogger.

We've had a nice break recently with Adam being out of school for 2 weeks between school quarters. The sun came out a few times, we did a small road trip and we also had some visits from the grandparents.

Here's a recap:

Last weekend we went to Wenatchee to see Carrie and Nick and join in Ruby's third birthday festivities as well as new baby Lucy's blessing. Sienna attended her first birthday party! Princess time!

Singing songs and shaking maracas.

Loving the costume jewelry!
Check out that phenomenal cake!

Baby Lucy.
Carrie and baby Lucy during those "witching hours." Remember those? Seeing a newborn again made me chant inside my head, "ICAN'TDOTHISICAN'TDOTHISICAN'TDOTHIS." I just can't do this again. But it's too late! I'll be doing it again in 2 months! Help!

The last few days of Adam's break, it was so sunny and clear we took our coats off! GASP! We went to my favorite park in the area and enjoyed bubbles from The Bubble Man (a bearded dude in overalls who drives a purple van and brings out all his bubble gear for kids at the park to scream about), bubbles from our own little bottle (weak sauce compared to The Bubble Man), swinging, the view of the Puget Sound and Birdie's favorite fish slide.

And looking at "pwanes."




We spent a couple hours at the zoo one day. The zoo is still completely uninteresting to Sienna. Unless of course you throw in some "ice cweam" and some more "pwanes."

Adam's parents came for a visit! I was shocked at how fast Sienna took to them. Grandparents are magical. They feed the child.
They babysit while you go to the ballet.
They let you honk their noses ... over and over and over. Because it's just so funny every single time!
They take pictures. This is on an excursion over to Bainbridge Island.
They take the child on a walk and do that fun swinging thing ... over and over and over. Because it's just so fun every single time!
And they read stories! The best!
My mom also came into town several weeks earlier. As long as you've got a book to read, Sienna is all yours.

Thanks for visiting, visitors! Thanks for coming out, sun!

29, 27, 22

Birthday = 29 years

It was my birthday this week. I turned 29. It was a lovely day. Especially considering the previous two days I spent in the hospital. I was having some chest pain so they kept me overnight and ran a bunch of tests which all came out fine and normal. The pain is gone, so all is well. But, I tell you, there is nothing like lying around in a stupid hospital bed for a couple days to remind you that everyday life, no matter what happens in it, is THE BEST! The whole world could have forgotten my birthday and it still would have been THE BEST. Every mundane task has become a beautiful, treasured thing. I do not want to go back to that dumb hospital until I can take home a baby when I'm done.

Anyway. The birthday. It was spent as follows: going to the gym, a French bakery meetup with friends Valerie and Jihan, nap during Birdie's nap, dinner with Adam to a sushi place while Jihan watched Birdie, and finally, the baking of the chocolate cake ... by me. Adam was going to do it, but his school teammate delegated a huge chunk of a project to him to finish before their deadline at midnight. Like I said, zero good things could have happened on this day, and I still would have been thrilled to just not be stuck as a lab rat in a hospital. Oh, one more thing: Adam got me flowers and tickets to the ballet. SMART MAN!

Jihan spoiled me with an orange brioche, hot chocolate and a giant yellow balloon.

Belly = 27 weeks

This shot is from 25 weeks and I dare say I'm waaaay bigger than that just two weeks later. I am getting so freaking excited for this baby. I remember my first days with tiny, tiny, raisin-like Birdie, and they were pure magic. I can't wait for more magic in my life!

Bird = 22 months

The other day Adam said, "You and The Bird? You're buddies. Me and The Bird? We're in love." It made me laugh so hard. But he's so right. Birdie looooooves her dad and he is smitten by her.

It's impossible to put into words how much we love our little Birdie. She gets more adorable, sweet, charming and silly by the minute, I swear.

On My Mind

*Why do married couples have to sleep in the same bed once they get married? Why is the couple's relationship suddenly in question if someone finds out they are sleeping in separate beds? Adam would sleep better in a separate bed. I probably would, too. Let's get back to 2 twin beds circa 1950 (??). Or we just need a king. Someday.

*Bloggers I've given up on:

-CJane Enjoy It - Frankly, I've seen enough enjoying it to last me for a good while. The cleverness is worn out but most of all, she's just everywhere now (3 blogs, column in DesNews, speaking, writing) and it's too much for me. She done gone commercialized and that's usually a good time for me to peace out.

- Pioneer Woman - Same here. Too much of PW is not a good thing. How on earth is she keeping up with five blogs that all have extremely long posts? Long posts with perfect grammar and spelling (which CJane could never claim) and each with 40 edited/perfected photos. Also, her humor just got repetitive. There are only so many times I'll find her "hiney, punks, calf nuts, whatever" references funny. And those days were over a long time ago.

- NieNie Dialogues - Also too much of a good thing. Her life full of color? Inspiring. Her comeback from a horrifying plane crash? Inspiring. The minute by minute details of her daily life (which her blog has become since the crash)? Boring. I mean, her minute by minute life is actually much more interesting and cool than mine, by far. But I guess I just wish she was keeping things simpler like she used to when she painted her kitchen cabinets green and showed pictures of her backyard composter and made an insanely awesome display on her daughter's wall using just colorful paper fans.

*Bloggers I'm still or recently into:

-Oh Happy Day - I still can't explain my obsession with this blog. It's one of my longest running favorites. More surprising is that when I met Jordan, I was completely underwhelmed and mostly disappointed by her. She's a party planner and I found her to be socially backward and awkward. Mystifies me everyday. And I think that's why I keep coming back. She was a mysterious wonder before I met her and she continues to be... She just keeps surprising me I guess.

- Stephmodo - She just moved to Seattle and I'm one degree of separation from her. My friend knows her personally and I just know we'll be meeting soon! This excites me. I just think she has a beautifully clean, unpretentious and minimalistic style and I really appreciate it after looking at a sea of blogs that seem over the top.

- Little Green Notebook - The girl can DIY! She's that genius who takes a piece of crap off Craigslist and gussies it up to high design. She continually amazes me.

*Adam told me the other day that I am starting to get my pregnant look. I said, "I know, I just saw it in the mirror yesterday." He means: swollen face. Wah, wah, wah. I'm also waddling now. And sighing heavily a lot. Because most of life is just too taxing when you're caring for one tiny toddling waddler while being the foodline and legs for another.

*Motherhood. I can't figure out if it's mostly insanity or mostly joyous and wonderful. I feel like I walk a fine line every day. Probably because my kid walks a fine line everyday. It's uncanny how we can be giggling and having a good snuggle one minute and the next she is putting up a huge crying fight while I try to put her socks on. Huh? Does that make sense at all? She's crazy. That's all I can surmise. And in turn, she has made me crazy. Some minutes that's crazy in love and some minutes that's loony tunes crazy town.

*Today I had the thought: I officially have nothing to live for. And then my mom sent me an email saying she would like to come for an impromptu visit next week. I called her and gave the go-ahead. She said that she, too, had nothing to live for. We are the same! Durn winter doldrums.

Some Bird Words

This morning The Bird woke up pointing to herself saying, "cute, cute cute, cute" so I could tell she was in a chatty mood. Sorry this video is kind of quiet and she's stuffing her face the whole time, but the girl's gotta eat right when she wakes up or she gets mad (like mother, like daughter). Here are some of The Bird's latest words (she learned "cute" just yesterday).

Here is The Bird saying a prayer complete with some hearty AMEMS!

This video is from a couple months ago (probably November?) when she was obsessed with saying "meow" and we were obsessed with making her say "mommy" and "daddy" (why else do we have children except to have them worship us?) Unfortunately I turn off the video before she says "bye bye" but you can see her mouthing it. It's really hard to get her on video saying anything because she's more interested in fiddling with the video camera, but when she wakes up she's out of it just enough to make it work.

Slave to the Schedule

Hey, moms, I'd like your thoughts on this, even though it might be a boring subject. It is actually a subject that endlessly fascinates me, so indulge me here as you snore through this post. And then answer my questions at the end.

Since becoming a mom, I have become a schedule slave. For me, I see no other choice but to wake up and be armed with my calendar and to-do list as I navigate each day. It has become frightening to me just how sensitive I am to this life of schedulery, as was manifest over the Christmas holiday when I felt ornery and discombobulated, only to breathe a sigh of relief upon returning to Seattle where I could once again be in total control over Sienna's and my world. It always makes me wonder: is every mom this psychotic about a schedule?

Here is a sample of our schedule from day to day. Now, I know this doesn't look like a slave's schedule, because, no, not every minute of every hour is marked in stone. I would actually call it a schedule with built-in flexibility. But there are a few things that must happen on certain days and at certain times (or I get in a funk) which are: laundry on Monday, food shopping on Tuesday, getting Sienna out of the house before and after her nap, and, most vital, allowing Sienna a 2 hour afternoon nap. Also, on a typical, ideal day, we're up at 7 am, Sienna goes down at 7 or 8 pm, and Adam and I go to bed at 10 pm (since school started Adam goes to bed later). Sienna always throws her own special middle of the night kink into this perfect schedule by waking up once or twice. It is, indeed, special.

Our typical schedule:

Monday: All laundry washed and folded today. Morning: gym for me and errands. Home around noon. Bird naps 1 - 3 pm. Afternoon: more errands or walk.

Tuesday: Morning: Indoor toddler gym at community center. Home around noon. Bird naps 1 - 3 pm. Afternoon: grocery store trip for the week.

Wednesday: Morning: gym for me. Home around noon. Bird naps 1 - 3 pm. Afternoon: errands or walk.

Thursday: Morning: Indoor toddler gym at community center. Home around noon. Bird naps 1 - 3 pm. Afternoon: open.

Friday: Morning: open, but lately Woodland Park Zoo indoor play time. Home around noon. Bird naps 1 - 3 pm. Afternoon: open, hopefully see Adam a bit earlier than usual and go to dinner.

Saturday: Try to get The Bird out of the house before and after her nap.

Sunday: Church at 10:20 am - 1:20 pm (I know, weird time), Bird naps 2 - 3 or 4 pm.

I am pretty positive that I will have to learn a whole new type of schedule making and flexibility when baby #2 comes; I know there will be many days when naps will not coincide or happen for one or both children. But right now, if there is one thing that dictates this schedule, it is naps and bedtime for the little one.

So, moms, I'd love to know:

- Are you a schedule slave? Do you do certain things on certain days? Certain things at a certain time every day? Are your kids schedule slaves, too? Is their sleep very scheduled? Tell me, what is your schedule?

- Or do you wing it? Do you do everything as it comes up? Do your kids seem to follow your lead in flexibility? Are your kids at ease with flexibility? Do they sleep whenever and wherever? The "wing it" style completely baffles and fascinates me, so please elaborate on your non-schedule as much as possible.

Hidden Talent

A short history on the place of the penny whistle in my life. It got me through a rough couple of days last July. Mom The Saint Hullinger came along on the car-ride-that-could-have-been-from-hell when we moved from Irvine to Seattle. Sienna The Screamer was in the back seat. Adam was a day ahead, driving the U Haul truck. Anyway, when Sienna The Screaming Squaker would start making her unpleasant pleas, my mom would bust out her trusty penny whistle and Birdie would chill her voice box for awhile. It was a true lifesaver at times.

Fast forward a few months. My mom gave us a penny whistle of our very own, seeing as how Sienna was a big fan. And guess who learned to play it? ADAM! So here he is playing Praise to the Man on his penny whistle.

Zany Christmas

We had another great Christmas. Here's a slideshow. Some highlights:

*Birdie turned into her alter ego "Bird Turd" this trip. Sleep was TERRIBLE, she was super clingy, did not warm up to one relative and didn't care about her cousins. It stressed me out and made me somewhat crabby. Maybe my alter ego is "Mad Crab Mom." Or something. I was not the pleasantest of holiday elves.

*Christmas Eve in our family is for giving homemade gifts. I won't go into all the details of each because some are inside jokes, but some epic ones this year included:

- Tyler gave Dad a "Hands Free Hygienator." Ty's almost done with dental school and just wants to ensure easy access to the clean teeth lifestyle.

- KarieAnn draped an Indian blanket on her shoulders and read Mark an Indian story. It started, "'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the teepee..." We laughed so hard ... especially because KarieAnn has that Ute voice down perfectly.

- Heather made Owen a die to help him decide his major, a cassette tape wallet and homemade cologne to remind him of his mission called, "Streets of India." Main ingredient: curry.

- Mark gave Roger a picture from our youth with his Grinch face superimposed over the kids which said, "You been Grinching long?" (The saying was, "You been farming long?")

* About 2.5 feet of snow fell right before we got to Roosevelt so BOY did we have a white Christmas. Dad put all the boys to work right away shoveling and plowing. Adam spent 3 hours on the tractor plow one morning. Woo wee, we city folk aren't used to all that manual labor! (Notice: I didn't do any manual labor, but I'm just guessing that's what Adam was thinking.)

*We went sledding. It was super fun! It made Birdie laugh a lot (and also cry a bit).

*With Owen in the mix you know there's going to be volleyball! We played several rousing games at the church with his posse and we all decided we weren't half bad for old fogies (Owen would give you a different synopsis, but don't listen to him).

*With Owen in the mix you know ping pong tournaments are in full swing as well. I won't go into it, but just know the women were excluded. And I was bitter.

*Heather and I went to the fitness center for a couple classes. OUCHIE. Oh the pain of being out of shape. It hurts me inside and out.

*I read William Stegner's Crossing to Safety over the holidays. It was lovely.

About A Boy

Well, we are having a boy. Although I have four brothers and a dad and a husband, I still find the prospect of raising a boy and loving a boy perplexing. WILL I even love him? Are boys as lovable as girls? Do they do as many cute things? And the big question that haunts me: will he even be cute? I know some pretty nondescript looking boys. They don't look like anything. I know some pretty cute little boys, too. But on the whole, little girls are cuter. Sorry, boys. However, check out these insanely adorable pictures of Adam as a chubby little cherub.

Is he not a brown haired, brown eyed version of Sienna? YES HE IS!

And he had an older sister who shared things like her suckers. Maybe Sienna will be nice like that, too.

But probably not. I think she'll just be mad and jealous and stomp her foot a lot like she does now when other kids come around.

Then there's the question of what to name him? Here's the list I've got so far:

Luca/Lucca

Roman

Ronan

Jude/Judas

Jack

Lucas

Jonah

Jonas

Noah

Asher

Gavin

Grayson/Greyson

Adam only okayed Luca/Lucca, Jack, Jonah, Jonas and Noah so far. My top favorite is Jude. But anyone who follows People.com knows why Sienna and Jude cannot be brother and sister. (The rest of you Google Jude Law and Sienna Miller.) Durned celebrities.

What are you favorite boy names? Is it just me or are there so few options for good, cool, somewhat different/unique boy names?

Pregnancy #2

I just had the thought, "Hey, what if I spend New Year's Eve doing the lamest of lame: updating the family blog!" And then Adam told me his sister was doing something even lamer tonight: chaperoning a stake dance, which is my worst nightmare way to spend an evening. So, bring on the lameness tonight, last day of 2010!

Well, as you may know, I'm pregnant again. Here's a leetle photo shoot from 15 weeks. Because when it's not your first pregnancy, you don't remember that you still need to pick up the camera to document now and then. So I finally got to it at 15 weeks. Now I am at nearly 19 weeks and will find out baby's gender on Monday. I think it's a boy because the tiny fetus profile at the first ultrasound is exactly my brother, Owen's. Adam is pulling for a girl. Let's be honest, so am I. If we could replicate any child with even 1/100th of the cuteness contained in Sienna, we will be pumped. We want her to have a little girl buddy, too. But I guess you can be buddies with whatever siblings you have, no matter the gender. Right?

So here am I. Maternal stretch pants and all.

Cup the belly!

Oh. My mirror is really grody. Look at that toothpaste streak.

I should really clean my mirror.

This pregnancy has been different in that I definitely felt the first trimester food weirdness right off the bat. Nausea and ickiness. Plus the fatigue that I felt with the first pregnancy. And then when the first trimester was over, it was like: zing! More energy, less food weirdness (although there is still some). I am seeing a high-risk OB/GYN and cardiologist, as usual, and have had some frank conversations about what my future really looks like in the child bearing department. Some of it is scary (like, I could be done having kids after this one or I could not - WHO KNOWS) so I am just trying not to freak out and doing my best to enjoy Sienna and pregnancy in general and all that goes with both. I have done my fair share of complaining about raising a kid (because it's so freaking ridiculously hard sometimes I just want to die) but when faced with the possibility, however big or small, of having just 2 kids when I had previously always envisioned having 8 (until I had a kid, of course) or at least 4 (after having a kid), it's a whole new mindset to adopt and a future I had never considered. Anyway, the good news is I am feeling great and have not had any heart trouble, and that is the best sign I can have. It just needs to continue ... hear that heart? Huh?!

Happy New Year! Here's to a year of birthing babies (for me, and many friends including Eirene, Mim, Shanna, and my cousin, Carrie). Go baby birthing!

A Merry Christmas Newsletter

I’ll admit, I’ve seen the year “2001” a few times this year and wondered, “Wait, is this the year I enter college? Or the year I have a one-year-old?” Figuring out which side of the “0” the “1” is on has been a challenge, so it is will gladness that I bid adieu to this confusing year. How was 2010 for you? And did you call it two thousand ten or twenty ten? Do we know what to call this decade yet? Early two thousands? Twenty hundreds? The zeros? Ponder on that.

As I reflect on the past year, we have plenty to be thankful for and also some things to be annoyed about. Let’s talk about it.

January started out with a bang. Adam’s first bike race resulted in a nasty crash and a broken collarbone and rib. It was his second time with the collarbone break. Doctors waited for, oh, three months to do surgery on it (none could be done for the rib). No biggie! He just had to sleep sitting up, deal with incredible pain, and sit out the entire racing season. He was broken in more places than his bones: his heart. Cycling is his second wife, so he suffered greatly the first half of this year without his beloved bike time. Now he has metal in his shoulder. That’s fun.

With his arm in a sling, he kept busy in after-work hours typing up business school applications and essays. He decided to go back to school to get a master’s degree in business so he could essentially ditch the world of accounting. He got into University of Washington and we made plans to move from sunny land (Irvine, Calif.) to rainy land (Seattle, Wash.) in August. How did I feel about this? Great. I was looking for a way out of California. If you think 2001 threw me off, try 80 degree winters. Is it May or November? I never knew.

Southern California did bring us many wonderful friends and opportunities, so our four years there were not wasted. It was lovely, in fact, and we never took for granted living close to the beach! But life marches onward and upward. Right before we left Irvine, I started an interior design business with a friend which we operate online. It’s been a dream of mine, and she was just the gal to help me go for it. It’s now what keeps me happy during Sienna’s naptime.

Speaking of our little Birdie, she turned one in May and learned to walk in August. Watching her learn new things is a daily thrill for us. She just entered nursery, runs, babbles with conviction plus a few words, and can be found climbing up in my rocking chair and quietly thumbing through her books (she’s gifted). I realized this year that sleep training is a farce (to my frustration, then relief, then full acceptance). I realized that a Sunday nap for myself can mean the difference between Scranton Strangler and Responsible, Loving Mom. I realized that a hug and kiss from your own little child is better than … sushi. Mmm, maybe they’re the same.

Speaking of sushi. I’m pregnant! And I’m not supposed to have any. This means I need extra hugs and kisses from my small child to remind me again why I’m going through all the sacrifices of having another small child. Baby #2 is due a month after Sienna’s birthday, which will put them at a nice two years apart! No word on gender yet, but we’ll find out soon!

Now that we are comfortably situated in an upstairs apartment in a triplex in the Crown Hill neighborhood of Seattle, life is considerably different than it was a year ago. More wet (yet much more sunshine than we anticipated), more urban, more eclectic, more time entertaining a toddler who has dropped her morning nap and … less time with Adam. We take the good with the bad and call it all good. Even if some of it is annoying.

The best thing in life continues to be our knowledge of the gospel and of Christ who makes the dark days bright. We hope you have wonderful holidays. Merry Christmas! And Happy New Year Two Thousand One One (that’s how I’m going to say it, anyway).

Adam, Martha and Sienna Ware

Back From the Dead - For Now

Hello faithful followers of my wife's blog. I'm here for my semi-annual contribution. I've read a few of Martha's "Brain-dumps," wherein she ruminates on a variety of seemingly unrelated topics. I thought I might give that a try. It's sure to be more of a "brain-barf" than a "brain-dump," although now that I've written those terms down together, one doesn't seem much worse than the other. Anyway, before I get started I should mention that I have no delusions of grandeur; meaning that I fully appreciate that readers of Martha's blog probably have little to no interest in laboring through multiple nonsensical paragraphs of A-Ware musings. Still it's raining outside, I'm out of school, the Bird is napping, Martha's at a Dr's appointment, and my Christmas shopping is done... so... this actually is the best use of my time.

Being a Dad. If you know my daughter, you know that she is the sweetest little thing that there ever was. What really amazes me is that no matter how cute she is, she figures out a way to even cuter the next day. For example, a few weeks ago she figured out how to jump. I say "show me your jumps, Bird!" and she does the cutest little hops. But just when I think that's the cutest little thing I've ever seen, she starts begging me to read "Where the Wild Things Are" every single night at bedtime. She finds the book, climbs up in my lap, and says "mmmm?" expectantly until I start reading. At the very end of the story, when Max sails from the place where the wild things are, back across the ocean, and "into the night of his very own room," the Bird looks at the little bowl of supper on his little table and says "hot!" It. Is. So. Cute. So if you're thinking of becoming a father I recommend it wholeheartedly, but don't get your hopes up. Your kid will be adorable, but not nearly as adorable as mine.

MBA School. I just finished up my first semester of b-school at the University of Washington in Seattle. In the past I've usually been pretty cynical about education. I'm that guy who was always asking his classmates "when are we ever going to use this?" or "I'm sure that's not the way they do it in the real world," as if an undergrad actually knows anything about "the real world." This time around I've been trying to approach school with a better attitude. I'm really trying to buy in to the whole process because, after all, I'm paying for it this time, and what do I have to lose? Here's a summary of things I've learned since starting the program. (1) I'm not nearly as good at Finance as I thought I'd be (2) I'm way better at Marketing that I thought I'd be (3) Being an CPA actually comes in handy once in a while (4) Apparently Apple and Google are the standard against which everything on earth is measured, because that's all anyone talks about (5) Just because you nailed the GMAT doesn't mean you're smart (6) No matter how much you wave your arms around, Statistics is still nauseatingly boring and (7) The best thing to do right before a test is foosball.

Journalism - I love the opinion page, be it in the paper, the radio, or the TV. But when you read or listen to these people you really have to watch out for fact-twisting, which I disdain. Rush and Glenn - whom for years I have regarded as nothing more than entertainers - were downgraded this year in my book to "not even worth thinking about" (I recognize the irony in that statement). It was the $200 million per day Asia trip thing that pushed me over the edge. Good opinion journalism took a huge hit in 2010 with the death of Daniel Shore. I only wish I were 25 years older so I could have heard him in his heyday. I read Paul Krugman religiously. I find his column captivating, though he never quite convinces me. I try so hard to read the WSJ opinion page (thanks to a free subscription provided by my cycling buddy Peter Harker), but I can't help wondering whether Rupert Murdock looks over the opinionators' shoulders as they write. Finally, I have this recurring fantasy in which David Brooks leaves his post at the New York Times and runs for President.

Politics - Speaking of recurring dreams, I have this one in which Sarah Palin gets her own reality show. She thinks it sets her up perfectly for a 2012 run, but in fact her tomfoolery on the show just further refudiates her own ability to lead a natio... oh wait! But seriously, she's embarrassing, and I'd totally add her to my people-I-want-to-punch-in-the-face list if I thought it would do any good. Other 2010 realizations: John Huntsman is better than Mitt Romney, Michael Bloomberg is better than Ralph Nader, Chris Christie is better than just about any Republican out there, and anybody is better than Christine O'Donnell.

Seattle - Meh. I'm pretty torn. On one hand it's a great place to live: the temperatures are moderate, I hardly ever have to drive, the bus service is easy and reliable, the chain restaurant to non-chain restaurant ratio is lower than anywhere I've ever lived (not counting Italy), the people are great, and the surrounding countryside is stunningly beautiful. On the other hand, the roads in the city are awful for road biking, it rains a lot (although not as much as I'd expected), the days are really really short in the winter time, and the whole place is sort of dingy looking. I haven't made a final decision yet... I'm withholding judgement until I've experienced a Seattle Summer.

Cycling - Back in Irvine there was a heavy guy at my church who used to always tell me that he was thin and fit as a whistle until he "turned 30 and started grad school." It never bothered me until he found out that I was turning 30 and going to grad school. "You watch out," he'd say. I actually appreciated his honesty and frankness. You see, I've been thin my whole life, so if I ever refuse a piece of cake people say things like "oh come on, you can spare the extra calories," or "like you care, you're just going to bike/swim it off tomorrow morning." I'm not complaining here; overweight people endure far more obnoxious comments than that. What I'm saying is that 2010 was a bad year for exercise. Maybe my worst ever. It started with a crash and a collarbone break in January which kept me off the bike for months. Grad school hasn't helped either. I'm down to 2 hours per week, on a good week. Last year at this time I was getting 8 to 12. I'm no William Howard Taft (yet), but I sure wish I could get on the bike a little more.

Snow Day in Seattle

The week of Thanksgiving, it snowed for a couple days and the whole city shut down! It was awesome! Adam and every other person in school around these parts got out for two days. And even when UW was considering holding school the second day instead of cancelling it, their message board got tons of nasty comments from people saying things like, "I care about my education, but I care more about MY LIFE!" Whoa! Talk about dramatic. But, really, it was pretty scary driving around. Tons of ice plus hills is not a good combination. We didn't go out much except to introduce Birdie to the stuff. I consider this her first snow, even though she's seen the stuff in Utah and Colorado last year during the holidays, because this is her first time actually living in it, not just visiting it, you know?

Here she is in her darling little marshmallow parka, hat and mittens taking a walk around the neighborhood.

Could that red little nose and cheeks be any sweeter?

Oops, a little fall.

She thought she'd venture into uncharted territory. Nope, coming back out. Too deep and too cold for tennis shoe wearers.

Tasting it!

Our reflection in a business window.

The view outside our living room window.

My lima bean wreath on the front door.

Snow, come back! I want to see you again in Seattle.