Respect my Power

Let me tell you about the kind of power I wield over my parents. First the back story: the other day, I was feeling very full and ready to unburden myself of excess waste. My parents put me in one of my favorite places, the vibrating chair. So, while they were not watching closely (they were getting the laundry ready to go), I pooped EVERYWHERE. It escaped the confines of my diaper and got all over my blanket, caked the fabric of the vibrating chair itself, plus gooped up my clothes, my legs, my back and my stomach. I was feeling pretty proud of myself at that point, but the crowning glory is when I convinced my mom, by looking so cute and huggable, to come over and lift me out of the chair. I knew I got her good when she yelped in dismay to see everything, now including her hands, covered in poop!

And yet, I tell you…this is the kind of unsurpassable power I possess…they DID NOT EVEN GET MAD AT ME! Can you believe that? I messed up everything within a two foot radius of my rear end and they had the gall to SMILE. Of course, I could see the veiled looks of disgust on their faces as they cleaned up after me, the way the balled everything up and threw it into the bathtub for a good soak before adding it to the laundry pile, and the way they gingerly pulled my extremely soiled onesie over my head and shoulders, careful not to get poop on my face.

Although my mom will tell you she had to restrain me from putting my dirty fingers in my mouth, I assure you, I was only testing her to ascertain the extent of her already formidable mothering skills. Even I, an infant, know this: one does not eat one’s own feces—it’s in tremendously bad taste.

Now it’s time to take a nap, and dream of new and improved ways to soil myself.

In any event, I just wanted to share with you all just how much influence and control I now exert after just two months of living here. You know you are jealous….

[Editor’s note: in the picture above, Evi sleeps very soundly after her mighty poo.]

Post Turkey Day Update

So we meant to blog the weekend after Thanksgiving, but somehow that Saturday and Sunday were swallowed up by this GIANT mound of laundry that had developed and needed to be neutralized. Who knew that a single child, weighing in at fewer than 10 pounds, could generate more dirty clothing than two adults? Now that everything is clean again, we are finally able to give you our Thanksgiving update.

We originally thought it might be nice to spend the holiday as a small, nuclear family, but we had enough friends who were also far from home that we decided to host a substantial party. All told, we had 8 adults and 3 children here. I cooked a 21-pound turkey and about 5 gallons of stuffing. Katie made her famous cranberry bruschetta, yams, green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes. We had plenty of wine, including a sparkling Malbec, and a good time was had by all. So many leftovers, too. I used the turkey bones to make a delicious turkey noodle soup, and we enjoyed the leftovers until they petered out today, over a week later.

We've also taken Evi to two holiday parties since Thanksgiving. She is turning into a real party animal. She always cries when we leave...or maybe we leave because she cries. There is a cloud of mystery around this latter point. We don't keep her out too late, we are usually pretty tired by about 9pm. I guess we are the real party poopers here.

There are new pictures up at flickr (click the link over in the right hand column), including some of her smiling and laughing. It's really hard to get her laughing and smiling because every time Katie or I trots out the camera, she gets interested in what we are doing and stops looking amused. She may also be camera shy. This last point, too, is shrouded in mystery.

I am readying myself for the onslaught of finals, starting at the end of this week, but then I will happy to have some time off. Katie and I are traveling to the Northwest during the holidays, so we are looking forward to seeing family and friends that we haven't seen in a while, and looking forward to introducing them to Evelyn Rose. I've decided not to return to Hofstra, and I am looking forward to being more present for Katie and Evi starting in January.

Victims of Vomit

If parenthood has taught us anything it’s that babies vomit. A lot. It is almost as if Evi bides her time and meticulously chooses the right time to release her venom. For instance, I was changing her entire outfit after a particularly prolific episode. I had finally wrestled her into one of those button-up contraptions that requires an engineering degree and a clearly written instruction booklet (with pictures, please) when I noticed a maniacal glint in her wee, beady eye. As soon as I snapped the last of the four million buttons into place, she gave me one of her winning smiles and proceeded to barf all over the new ensemble. Lovely. Another instance found me securely wrapped in two burp cloths to ensure that my shirt would be stain free for at least 20 minutes out of the day. I put Evi up on my shoulder, checked to make sure all systems were go and began to tenderly pound on her back. No sooner had I landed the first gentle tap-tap did Evi bob her head left, then right and, miraculously avoiding the aforementioned burp cloths, formed her mouth to enable an accurate hit and expertly (and intentionally, I am convinced) landed the majority of her lunch down my shirt. Again, lovely. How much do I miss having a washer and dryer? Let me count the ways.

6-week update

So Evelyn is smiling for real now--she used to smile only involuntarily, like when she was falling asleep or passing gas. Katie talks to Evi in a high, excited voice and Evi just lights up like Christmas tree. She also likes this soft giraffe rattle we have, and if you shake it at her and poke her cheeks with it she gives a huge, open-mouth smile. She's also a couple inches taller now, and is learning how to flex her leg muscles; she can support herself on her legs for several seconds in a standing position (but needs to be held to stabilize her balance).

One other thing that is good is that after going to sleep at 10-11pm, she only wakes up once at night (although she can be up for an hour or hour-and-a-half) and then sleeps until 7-8am. Katie and Evi are often sleeping (so sweet!) when I leave for work in the morning.

We put up a bunch of pictures on flickr detailing Evi's baptism, already 2 weeks ago--wow! Needless to say, we were very happy to have my whole family here and many of our friends who all celebrated with us afterward at our apartment, where, of course, there was plenty of good snacks, lots of good stuff to drink, and football on TV. We feel so blessed to have such great friends and a wonderful family and A SWEET BABY!

Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Halloween--Evi's first holiday (and Katie's favorite). We stayed in, but did go "trick-or-treat" at some of our neighbors' places, not for candy, just to show off Evi's lady bug costume. If you have seen the pictures link, then you know that Evi really wanted to be a brain-eating zombie. We also played lots of card games with my parents and sister who were already here for the baptism. Gayle and I went to this cool beer store and got some yummy, Halloween-appropriate drinks: Rogue Dead Guy Ale, a Belgian beer called Delerium Tremens, and two British types called Wychcraft and Hobgoblin. Fun times!

We'll try to get more pictures up this weekend.

Obama!

There are few words that can describe the emotion and the pride that the election results have brought forth, so I wanted to post this poem by Maya Angelou that has a few very poignant passages. Go America!

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Chevy

There seems to be some confusion about Evelyn’s nickname. Now, I am not endorsing any product here, only using a brand name to illustrate a point of pronunciation. We are calling her Evi as in “drove my Chevy to the levy.” Now you know.

In other news, I am mothering like crazy and getting absolutely nothing done. The ceiling is leaking water from the current downpour of rain. My chest is throbbing from the constant assault by the aforementioned Evi. The garbage needs to go out. I have watched more morning news shows than I would like to admit. On the bright side, I did take a shower today! Woot! We are all doing our best to survive.

Some quick Evi facts to tide those of you who have demanded updates:
1. After a short stint of not gaining weight Evi is packing on a solid ounce a day. She still has little bird legs and arms, but she is SO CUTE. We should be back up to 7 lbs by her one month birthday.
2. Evi gives the cutest wide-mouthed smile when she is falling asleep, like it is the best thing that’s ever happened to her. Hoping to put up a video of this soon.
3. We have put a moratorium on clothing gifts for Evi, as her wardrobe is literally bursting forth from our closets and dressers. She will never wear all of her clothes, people! Knock it off!
4. The only other things I can think of involve soiled diapers, so I will spare those of you non-parental units the graphic details of what has become big business (no pun intended) at Casa Dan & Bird.

Feel free to call or stop by, it seems that everyone is afraid of disturbing us, but we welcome the social interaction of adults! Don’t abandon us!

3-week Update

Evelyn is 3 weeks old as of this past Friday! We have been hosting family the last few weeks. Katie's sister Courtney was here. She helped us out a lot, from making the world's best zuppa toscana (with sausage AND bacon!) to doing dishes and diaper duty to holding Evi so we could get some sleep. After she left, Dan's parents came. They are staying in a one-bedroom place about a 10-minute walk away that we found on Craigslist! Mom and Dad (or should I say Grandma and Grandpa?) are so excited to meet their first grandchild! They have been helping out by cooking dinners, doing dishes, and holding the baby. Of course, this being our family, we have also found some time to play card games and board games, and drink some good wine! The baptism is this coming Sunday, so stay tuned for the next update! Also, click the pictures link at the right to see more pictures of our little darling!

It’s a girl!

We’re so happy to introduce Evelyn Rose to everyone. I’ll let Katie write about the whole (very long) labor and delivery. I was there the entire time helping out and cheerleading, but I think only she can give the full account of the entire 37-hour process.

Evelyn came out pink and squalling—really, for a newborn she has a set of pipes and uses them to cry very loudly. She’s strong too. She grips my index finger like a champ. I think she might grow up to be some kind of singing weightlifter (wouldn’t you pay money to see something like that?). She and Katie, who, by the way, is sore but fine, will probably come home from the hospital today. I’m going to take the week off from work to spend some time with them both. We would love to hear from people via email or phone and will try to answer both. We also upgraded to Flickr Pro which means we will be posting more pictures (and short videos!) there to supplement our occasional blogs.

For those who like these kinds of details: she was born on Oct. 3 at 2:45pm and weighed 7 lbs., 2 oz. I don’t know how long she is yet. She has downy, reddish hair and blue or brown eyes depending on if you ask me or Bird. Her favorite activities are sleeping, holding my index finger, sleeping, eating, sleeping, crying, sleeping, and pooping (after which: sleeping). She is adorable in every way.

Horses!

Charlie horses! One of the late incarnations of misery associated with this pregnancy. I get them in my calves at night, sometimes on the side and you can see the indentation from the extreme muscle contraction. Holy pain. But my favorite so far has been the one I got in my armpit. Twice. And no one around to laugh at me.

Bird's quick food post

I have come to the conclusion that the absolute worst part of pregnancy is that I cannot partake of the sweet, sweet nectar that is cake/brownie/cookie batter. What is the point of these foods if one cannot eat the majority of them during preparation? Don’t get me wrong, the final product is worthy of ingestion, but I am at the point of adding raw eggs to my list of things to take with me to the hospital, so that I may partake after the baby is born. It will be a strange meal: soft cheese, raw eggs, deli meat and pink champagne.

Quote o' the day

"Sometimes, even though we love America, with its amber waves of purple mounted majesties fruiting all over the plains, we get a little ticked off at our government." Thank you, Dave Barry. Thank you.

Farm weekend

Katie and I just got back from a wonderfully relaxing weekend in upstate NY. We accepted a generous invitation from our friends Brian and Lindsay, who own over 250 acres of farmland and forest about 2.5 hours north of the city. We hadn't seen them in about 2 years, so there was a lot of catching up to do. Since the last time we were there, they had added chicken, sheep, goats, llamas, and a new pond to the farm (which already had horses, barn cats, peach and apple trees, and gardens). So we had lots of fun getting acquainted with the new critters.

We had fresh food from the garden: yummy tomatoes, summer squash, and all kinds of fresh herbs (basil, dill, oregano, thyme, and mint, to name a few). We also had fresh food from the farm stands along the county road: eggplant, peaches and nectarines, apricots, beets, swiss chard, kale, farm-fresh eggs, etc. So there was good eatin' up there at the farm.

Lindsay took us for a trot around the farm in a horse-drawn cart (only sat two people, so Dan had to stand and hold on for dear life on the back board). We got some shot of Dan climbing pear trees in the orchard (Brian and Lindsay insisted we take this photo)--so now we have documented evidence of a Partridge in a pear tree. Plus, there was a lot of relaxing to be done: laying in hammocks, reading on couches, drinking beer or wine on porches, more reading on lawn chairs, etc. Plus, there were lap dogs who loved to play fetch with Frisbees, chew tows, and tennis balls.

All in all, we were happy return to their farm after a long hiatus to experience their warm hospitality, and we hope to be back before another two years elapse (a bit easier since Katie will no longer be swamped with school stuff).

PS. They MADE us bring a bag of peaches home...probably about 20-25 peaches in all. So many peaches!!

Take a look at our pictures !

Nesting

The stages of pregnancy are pretty clear: First Trimester, Second Trimester and Nesting. In honor of my eight month I have begun the rituals of our ancestors which include such activities as cleaning house and throwing unnecessary items away. Many of you may not think this strays from my typical state of neurotic hyper-cleaning, but I can assure you this is far superior to anything I have attempted in the past. I have vacuumed the oscillating fan. After disassembling, soaking, washing and drying said wind-blower. I used an entire package of Swiffer wet cloths on the kitchen floor. At one time. I have used methods I am not proud of to persuade Dan to get rid of his Mountain View track & field sweatshirt, among other closet-clogging clothing.

Bird (screeching, on the verge of tears): “How many pairs of pants do you need?!”
Dan: “At least one!” This said as he desperately tried to disengage my death grip from the pants he was currently wearing.
Bird: “Think of the baby!”
Dan (obviously missing the point of my plea which was, of course, Think of the Baby!): “Huh?”

And so it goes. I continue to eye the light fixtures menacingly, wishing I could reach them to scour them thoroughly before the baby gets her hands on them. I curse the wainscoting every day for its dust-collecting insubordination. I Clorox wipe our keys. I have pressure washer fantasies…think of the possibilities! And, of course, I find all of this perfectly rational. Think of the baby!

Thanks for the clarification

Bird to Dan: "Why are you yelling?"

Dan: "I'm not yelling. I'm yelling at you."

Things your mother won't tell you: Hitting things solves problems

So Katie and I have this great digital camera: a Sony DSC-S40. We took it to Europe with us and took a ton of pictures, and continued to use it as much afterward. In fact, almost every picture on our flickr account was taken with this Sony camera. So, you can imagine our dismay when the LCD screen just went blank--pure white as soon as you turn it on--when we were on our trip to Charleston last weekend. So, today I was surfing around Sony's troubleshooting website, which was most unhelpful. Most of the hints told you to dig around in the menus to reset certain parameters. I can't see the darn screen, so how in the world is that advice helpful?!

Google to the rescue! I found a discussion group in which MANY, MANY people had faced the LCD "white screen of death." A certain man named Bob from Allentown, PA had posted a "quick fix" for which most of the respondents were professing eternal thanks, since it fixed their camera at no cost to them. I was skeptical at first, but so MANY people claimed that it worked, that I decided to give it a try. Here's the text from the website:

"I fixed the camera myself as follows:

1. Hold camera firmly in left hand
2. Smartly rap front of camera with knuckles of right hand on the 'Cyber-shot' logo.

It worked, now the LCD is working again for free.

Guess I don't need to pay Sony $111.00 for repair service."


Sounds crazy, but I tried it. HOLY CRAP, IT WORKED!! So our camera is back to normal and I only had to hit it to fix it. Apparently, Sony customer service knows about this "quick fix" but understandably does not share it with angry customers. What self-respecting company would advocate violent, but corrective, abuse (at no cost to the customer) to fix its products?

I wonder if fixing children's behavior problems will be that straightforward? Hmmm....

Shrimp 'n' Grits

Hello all. It is hot here in NYC...but it was even hotter in Charleston, SC where we spent last weekend. In fact, on Monday, the day we left, it was about 95, and with humidity around 80-90%, it felt like about 105. Ugh. Katie said she'd never been more uncomfortable in her life. Of course, she is pregnant, and we were touring a rice plantation where we were in the direct sun for much of the time.

But the discomforts of heat and humidity were no match for the pure, unbounded joy of seeing my family. All of 'em: Alan, Gayle and my folks. We stayed at Alan's palatial house that he shares with two other guys (both USAF), which overlooks the marsh that abuts the Ashley River. It's a tidal river at that point, so the water is brackish and supports all kinds of yummy critters: crab, trout, minnows, flounder, shrimp, etc. Alan and I went fishing one morning and caught that day's lunch!

The whole trip was a kind of graduation gift to Bird (thanks Mom and Dad!) and we tried to keep it a surprise. She basically figured out that we were going to see Alan in Charleston a few weeks ago, but she didn't know Gayle and my parents would be there too. Some highlights: We visited Alan's Air Force base and toured the plane he flies, the C-17. It's about 5 stories high and can fit several jeeps, or a full-size tank, or helicopter in the cargo area. We also took a horse-drawn carriage ride through the historic downtown area of Charleston and enjoyed gazing at the stately homes and public buildings there. As always, after any outdoor activity, we were happy to get into an air-conditioned restaurant, church, home, or store, but especially restaurant. We ate like Kings and Queens, from the regional dishes "She Crab Soup" and "Shrimp 'n' Grits" which are both freakin' DELICIOUS, to Alan's wood-smoked cheeseburgers, to seafood extravaganzas, it was a good eatin' weekend for us.

Of course, it wouldn't be my family if there weren't some games. We all played Hearts and a game called Five Crowns (with up to 6 people), while Alan and I played some chess and also Halo on the 15' wide by 10' high projection screen TV upstairs. (Did I mention the house was palatial...'cause it was!)

Everyone was excited to see Bird's baby belly and some of them, especially Gayle, got to feel the baby kickin' up a storm in there. It was also kind of strange to refer to Mom and Dad as Grandpa and Grandma, but I bet we'll all get used to it pretty soon. The next time we'll all be together will be at the baby's baptism sometime in late October.

Katie says next time I take her on a trip, the requirement is that it has to be at least 20 degrees cooler than NYC. Next stop...Nunavut, Canada (I guess...I hear Baffin Island is quite pleasant this time of year...no wait, I just made that up).

Oh, and before I forget, here are some pictures from the trip. Our camera started to malfunction about halfway through the trip, so we're only putting up pics from the beginning of the trip.

Speaking of Therapy..

I know it is a bit presumptive to assume anyone will buy us anything for the baby, but I have to steer you away from our traditional registry and urge you to consider one of the items listed here:

http://www.cracked.com/article_16475_20-baby-products-great-traumatizing-infants.html.

(It's a guarantee that any one of these will be a hefty source of income for some lucky psychiatrist in the future.)

Baby vs. Bladder: Round One

Today marks month seven of my pregnancy and to celebrate, the baby has been bounding about within me, using my bladder as her trampoline. As you might expect, it is difficult to reprimand her for this behavior so I am forced to add it to my list of things to punish her for when she is born. So far she will be grounded for the first year of her life. Also on the list of offenses: knocking me down with fatigue, making me sick for three months straight, forcing me to eat cheese for every meal and magnetically drawing the hands of strangers onto my belly. Why are strangers compelled to molest pregnant women? I have been brainstorming a way to deter this behavior but many of my solutions are a bit impractical, such as constructing a barb-wire fence around me, electrifying my low-rise support maternity pants, carrying a taser. It’s really too hot to have electric pants right now. I welcome other suggestions.

Dan and I have been getting a lot of inquiries about what we are going to name the baby. We thought we had a fail-proof method of selecting a name for her: we would each create our own list of possible names from our 100,000 baby name book and then compare lists…surely a few names would overlap, you say. You are wrong! There was quite a cacaphony of pencils scraping as we each scratched out each others carefully selected names. Dan suggested we attempt to pick a middle name, instead. Maybe her first name can be _____. All was not lost, however. There are a few survivors for when we decide we want to pay for therapy for all of her adult life:
Tusnelda
Macuilxochitl
Capaquiupanqui and
Tupaquiupanqui
As it is, we are still working on the name and once (if?) we choose one we will make sure she likes it before announcing it to the world.

Birthdays and baby galore!

As many of you already know from the deluge of email from Katie over the past few months, she threw me a surprise 30th birthday party last month. And let me tell you, it was a huge surprise. I had no idea, not even an inkling, that this was happening. It was fantastic. Notice the surprise on my face in the above picture! People came from all over: Washington state, New Orleans, Indiana, Buffalo, Texas, and all over the tri-state area. Over the course of the afternoon probably about 40-50 people ate, drank, and merrily made their way through the apartment. Katie got two 6-foot hero sandwiches from the local Subway sandwich place, and made (or had people bring) devilled eggs, peanut butter cookies, brownies, olive trays, and all other sorts of yummy food. Wine, beer and soda pop flowed like water. I got some great gifts.

One of the best parts about the party was that several out-of-town friends (and one out-of-town sister) stuck around for a few days. So the party atmosphere persisted for a while. I got together with people during my lunch breaks and after work to eat or play Frisbee in the parks. A bunch of us went to Carmine’s one night (which, for those of you who haven’t visited us and eaten there, is a family-style Italian restaurant with huge, delicious portions of good good good food), and had a great time.

Of course, the next week Katie also turned 30. It was a (much) lower key affair, but still nice. I made her brownies, which is probably her favorite food, EVER. So now we’re both old. Just kidding! We feel great and are enjoying the beginning of the summer, which, apart from a blistering heat wave last week, has been temperate and pleasant. I’m forging ahead with my dissertation and she is working at her current rotation, which is conveniently just across the street (talk about a great commute!). We’re going to take advantage of some of the free summer activities the city has to offer, starting tomorrow with an opera highlights concert by the Metropolitan Opera in Prospect Park .

And for those who are wondering, Katie is feeling fine, and we’re both having fun feeling the baby kicking and punching around in there—she (the baby) is usually really active right before bedtime and she (the Katie) makes sure I am there to experience it, too.

I’ll post some pictures to our flickr account.

Customer Service

I have been trying to find a OB/GYN affiliated with Methodist hospital. The following is a brief glimpse into this process:

Insurance Company Customer Service Representative (La’Shantisha): “How can I help you?”
Bird: “I am trying to find an obstetrician at Methodist hospital.”
La’Shantisha: Okay.

*Three minute interlude of some wild tap-tapping of the keyboard while La’Shantisha maneuvers through what I can only guess is the top level of Tetris*

La’Shantisha: “How do you spell that?”
Bird: “Spell what?”
La: “The doctor’s name.”
Bird: “What doctor?”
La: “Dr. Obst…Obste…Ob..”
Bird: “An obstetrician is a type of doctor, not the name of a doctor.”
La: “Oh. What kind of doctor is he?”
Bird: “An OB/GYN”
La: “Oh. We only have listings for Obstetrics.”
Bird: *silence*
La: “Where is the doctor located?”
Bird: “I am trying to FIND a doctor!”
La: “Where?”
Bird: “At NY Methodist hospital!”
La: “We don’t have any doctor affiliations with that hospital.”
Bird: “Oh.”
La: “For our records, can you tell me if this service was helpful for you today?”
Bird: *incredulous, exasperated sigh*
La: “You can say yes or no.”
Bird: “Let’s say no.”

Baby

Many of you are already aware: Dan is my Baby Daddy. Translation for those of you who don’t live in the ghetto or watch Jerry Springer: we are going to have a baby! We spread the word to family and friends on Easter weekend. The following are some of the responses we received:
“Congratulations!”
“Oh my God!”
“Finally!”
“You’ve been naughty.”
“EEEEK!” (there may have been a spider in this person’s hair)
As for me, I have been pretty sick with what I call the “heaves” which means that I have a very sensitive gag reflex and tend to gag at the most innocuous of stimuli like people, animals, automobiles, paper, food, clothing and thoughts. For me there is no such thing as morning sickness; it’s pretty much an all day affair; let’s equate it to being hung over all the time! Yay! I made this analogy to someone yesterday and he responded with “how do you know what it feels like to be hung over?” Really, who are we kidding? How do you think we got into this mess in the first place?!
And when, you might be wondering, will this baby arrive? The estimated date is October 15th, give or take two weeks. So be prepared to be ignored in about six months, because we will be busy trying to figure out what to do with a screaming, demanding, pooping infant. EEEEK!

Snow!

Today Katie and I woke up to a blanket of pure white snow over the city. It was the first significant snowfall of the winter (I saw on the news that it was largest snowfall in the last 2 years.) Hofstra canceled classes and so I got the gift of a free day. Katie didn't have to work until 3pm (she goes till 11pm), so we took a walk through 6 inches of snow in Prospect Park and finished up with a yummy tomato, basil and mozzarella sandwich at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Cafe.

It was just about 32 degrees so the snow was pretty wet and stuck to the sides of trees, the lattices of wire fences, and our faces. It also made great snowballs and snowmen. At one point, I made a snow angel, which Katie then proceeded to step in once I got up. Grrrr.... and Brrrrr.....

We haven't blogged since Christmas because not a whole lot is happening. I am just teaching, she is plugging away at her different rotations at the hospitals. Last week she finished internal medicine and this week is experiencing the clamor and hectic life of the emergency room. She is at Kings County Hospital which is a VERY large urban hospital, so she's seen all kinds of people with all kinds of ailments already!

I guess one item of note was the Winter Ball that her school put on. Katie is on the student council so she had some part in the planning and execution of the thing. It was held at a movie studio that occupies the formerly unused Brooklyn Navy Yard. There was a great view of Midtown Manhattan and several of the bridges. Apparently, this is the largest lot for movies outside of Hollywood. There was a very nice catered dinner and an open bar (though we gave up alcohol for Lent, so we didn't take advantage of it!) and a very good DJ. We danced for a few hours and drank soda instead of wine (I figured I'd a least order fancy sodas, so I got several Roy Rogers--they're like Shirley Temples but with Coke instead of 7-up).

Anyway, I'm already looking forward to the Spring Break mid-March! We hope all of you who check in periodically on the blog are doing fine and we hope to speak to you personally in the near future!