7 Quick Takes - Featuring an Announcement

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Dear World:
I have an announcement!

Due April 1, 2014 - and that's no joke!
J and I are very happy to be expecting again.  I'm glad to share the news with all of you! 

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I know, I know, you're all dying to know how I'm doing.  (Right? Of course you are.) Nauseous and tired.  Terribly nauseous.  As I'm going into the 2nd trimester things only seem to be getting worse.  That's not good!  The nausea is supposed to be going away!  P gave me some trouble, but never this much.  I'm pretty convinced that based on this the baby must be a girl.    

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Sometimes the best way to handle feeling tired and icky is simply to stare at Facebook and Pintrest for awhile.  I have found some lovely gems in the process.   Like this: 10th Circle Added to Rapidly Growing Hell. 

Thank you, Onion.

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Last weekend I had some delightful company in town - far better than just staring at the computer.  KK, my dear friend from back home, came out for a visit!  I was thrilled to finally take her around campus and show her all the things that have been so important to me over the last several years. Seeing her is always so much fun and I was sad she had to leave so soon.  Thanks for visiting, KK!  I hope to see you soon!

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Speaking of the weekend,  I feel the need to share my Notre Dame football predictions for the next couple weeks.

This weekend we are going to lose and lose badly to Oklahoma.
Next weekend we are going to win against Arizona State, but I don't think it's going to be a great victory.

I have a theory.  I want to test it and see how accurate it is.

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This child loves chicken.  LOVES chicken.  Chicken and eggs. Those two things are the only things that consistently sound good to me.  The funny thing is, when not in a pregnant state I don't particularly like either. In honor of Baby and for the amusement of my sister I've decide that all 7 Quick Take Posts will have hidden chickens.  Those chickens next door had better watch out.

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Last but not least, this weekend one of my favorite ND Student organizations, Children of Mary, will have a concession stand by the bookstore at the south corner of the Eck Center.   If you're on campus this weekend, stop by and support them!  They won't have chicken, but I fully intend on patronizing them.

Linking up with Jen

Seven on the Thirteenth

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Today is Friday the 13th.  Good thing superstitions are silly because I don't need a bad day.  It always amuses me when it is Friday the 13th though.  It's also a great excuse to cover for mistakes of the day. ;-)

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 This past Sunday was the Feast of the Nativity of Mary. It was superseded by Sunday of course, but that did not stop in some intrepid Children of Mary officers from bringing a lovely cookie cake to brunch in South Dining Hall.  The fearless president lead the table in singing "Happy Birthday" to Our Lady.  

That's the Litany of Loretto on the cake

The Folk Choir (eating their breakfast the next row over) assumed we must have been singing to one of the girls standing by the cake.  Thus in a great display of amicability they burst out in their birthday song to their tune of Siyahamba (We Are Marching in the Light of God):

(You have to listen to link)

"Happy birthday! Happy birthday, oh! Happy birthday, happy birthday, you're so old! Happy birthday, happy birthday, oh! Happy birthday, happy birthday, Mary!!"

We all lost it. We were roaring with laughter.  Eventually one of the young men at our table went over and explained to some of his Folk Choir friends who's birthday we were celebrating.  They had no idea. 

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Yesterday we went to the zoo! We met up with my coworker, her little ones and one of her friend's and her friend's son.  It was a great day for the zoo.  I was also glad that she is much more of morning person than I and so motivated me to get out and enjoy the day. The best part was seeing one of the elusive red pandas (above).  Those creatures is never out. Ironically all the animals that are normal guaranteed to be out were sleeping. 

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After all of our company coming and going somebody declared that he'd had enough of dishes.  Enough he said!  He was determined to get a dishwasher into our small, poorly updated 1930's kitchen.  We eventually settled on the only truely viable option: a portable dishwasher.

We have to pull it out to use it and push it back into its corner when we're done.  It's a little awkward, but then honestly, the whole kitchen is awkward.

Right now it's in operation for the first time!  I hope it works!

The first dishwasher I've had since I moved out of my parents!

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I have nothing more to say, except that my dishwasher seems to swish in time to Siyahamba.   That is mildly disturbing. So is Steve clapping/dancing at the end of that video.  I am sorry if that darn song is stuck in your head for the next 8 years.

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Hmmm I just noticed there's a link to the picture of my neighbors' chickens under this #6 heading. Given that I usually just copy and past the numbers, that means there are probably links to secret chickens hidden in most of my other 7 Quick Takes posts.  I deleted this one.  Good luck finding my other secret chickens if they're there.  I'll have to look myself.

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Here's a random picture of someone covering his legs with last year's chart stickers salvaged from the trash can at work.  Using about 50 stickers he covered both legs.  Getting them off was great.

Happy Friday!

Of Visiting and Visitors: 7 Things

Hello, World.  I've been gone for over a month! I can't believe it's been a month. Well, actually yes I can. Here let me catch you up on my adventures:

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Much like the previous month, August was largely dominated by the theme of visits.  Before we embarked on our great journey of the month, we were blessed by a visit from some good old college friends and their son. Their visit was brief, but it was lovely catching up with them!

Our boys

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The arrival of the above mentioned friends gave rise to a join birthday party - which was a tremendous amount of fun. Martha reported - you can see what she had to say.

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The day after the day after party, we took a week and drove out to visit my in-laws.  From there we went back to work on my grandmother's house and also to celebrate some family birthdays.  Seeing the in-laws was fun. The celebrating part was fun.  The house part not so much.  Spending so many hours in the car: also not fun. 

Practicing his ABCs with his aunt.

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Following the great journey of the month my brother and sister came to stay for awhile.  Their nephew was extremely spoiled by their presence - particularly his uncle's.  It is amazing he has survived their departure.

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For Labor Day Weekend/the FIRST NOTRE DAME HOME GAME!!!!  a dear seminarian friend of ours was able to come visit.  We always love his visits, and this was no exception.  The weekend itself was very good.  Being on campus with all the celebration of the new football season was super exciting.  

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Then September came and all our guests left.  That Sunday my brother, sister, and our friend all took their leave.  Our house felt very empty.  We sat up that night feeling like someone was supposed to be coming home any minute. I almost went to call to see when someone was coming home.  After 20 days of always having guests or being guests, something just seemed wrong.

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Now, as of yesterday, my little sister is in Rome for a year!  I'm still processing this - I'm sure she is too, but hopefully she's doing it over a beautiful cappuccino or delicious gelato.  I'm not jealous. Really.

I am hoping she keeps us up-to-date with her studies and travels here.

A parting note - likely to not be erased until her return. 

P.S. Speaking of visitors: you can all start visiting my blog again.  I promise I'm going to try to post more! And, here's a link to Jen since I actually managed 7 things to say.