Africa Day 6: Fancy Free

Friday's forecast was for rain and wind. All of our activities required not that. So we shuffled our activities around and ended up with a free day. The "plan" for a bunch of us was to hang out in a cool place with food and drinks.

After a leisurely morning (and being woken by the breakfasters above us), Ben, Meredith and I headed out. We found a place along the shore called "Blue." We ordered drinks and appetizers. We updated the rest with where we were. Not long after that we found out that Blue is where dinner was going to be that night. We decided to finish our order and then find another place.

Just up the street was The Cod Father. Ben said we had to go there. So we did! I am sure glad we did! The place was cozy and slow, so they didn't mind us hanging out for hours. We wanted a wine recommendation, so we ended with the manager at our table. He must have been bored, or entertained by us because he kept finding reasons to sit at our table with us. We didn't mind. He was a hoot! A few hours in, Dori joined us. But everyone else kept ditching out on us. We ended up having so much fun, that we ditched the group dinner and just stayed there. Excellent choice! The food was terrific! The people were outstanding!

An interesting thing about The Cod Father.... they don't have a food menu. They had sushi that you could pick up from a conveyor belt. For the rest of the food, you just went up to the fish counter and told them what you wanted and they would prepare it. I know we had squid. It was fabulous! It was just grilled with seasoning, but it was so tender and tasty. So delicious! The fish we had was good too. I don't remember what kind it was.

When we got back to our hotel, we were told that they moved us into a new room. No more people walking above us! So happy.

The day wasn't how we planned it, but to me it was a perfect day with perfect companions. 

Thankful Tree 2014

In November we started a new family tradition - a Thankful Tree. I bought a stand-up tree from Target and cut out paper leaves. Several times throughout the month, we would share what we were thankful for. Then we added the leaves to the trees. Here is what we were thankful for:

Odin
I'm thankful for...
God
Boo-boo
Grandma reading to me and letting me paint on her tablet.
Mac and cheese and cereal
Watching Mickey Mouse movies on mommy's phone and TV.

Adelyn
I'm thankful for...
Mac and cheese
My family
Mommy and I like your shirt
Genevieve
Muffins

Ben
I'm thankful for...
My children coming in and snuggling with me this morning.
Mommy's back rubs.
My staff hiring someone without my help.

Me
I'm thankful for...
That we can spend time with friends.
That even though we [the girls] live far apart we are still super close.
Play dates.
That daddy let me go for a run.
Adelyn puts a smile on my face.

Woof: I'm thankful for grandma coming.

Dolly: I'm thankful for mommy.

Grandma: I'm thankful for being able to spend time with my 3 special grandchildren.

Heather: Girlfriends who travel lots of miles for a last minute weekend.

Andrea: I'm thankful for Grandparents and that they make girls weekend possible.

Cassie: I'm thankful for annual girls weekend. 11 Years and 6 Years.

Getting Into A Utah Groove

We've been in Utah for over a month now. Crazy! We just had to move houses on Wednesday, so we're getting settled into our new place.

February seemed to fly by. We had house guests the first week. Neither Ben nor I had ever met them before. Ben only knew them a teeny tiny bit from a group that he is in. Turns out - they were great guys. Peter and Nick are from NYC. They are good friends and they love skiing. So they spent the week skiing with Ben while the kids and I kept busy. We went on daily "adventures" being "all snow-geared up." We had a lot of fun playing in the snow.

We also discovered the local library. Every week they have "Discovery Time." I jokingly told Ben that it was like Little Gym but without the gym part. But they do have an opening song. Then the librarian reads a few books related to the day's letter or theme. More songs. Then bubble time (see? It's like Little Gym!). Then after you get stamps (sound familiar?) you can go into the other room for crafts and snacks. We've been having fun doing that.

After we got back from MN, we had 3 more house guests. These ones had me stressing out. Ben had told me that he thought they were strict Paleo dieters. We kind of eat that way. But our daily eggs couldn't be cooked in butter. We couldn't have chili because it has beans. So, yeah. I was trying to find new recipes that I could make. Turns out... Ben was wrong. They eat Paleo-ish. Basically like us. But, I did find two yummy muffin recipes. Mike, Abel and Allison were a lot of fun. At night we played games. Allison was great with the kids. They really felt like old friends to me. I like that feeling. I was very sad to see them go.

And now it's March. My mom is up this weekend to watch the kids so I can participate in the Summit Weekend with a bunch of our friends. I am excited to get out a bit more. Next weekend Ben's parents come into town. Followed by a couple of our friends. Followed by my parents and brother. Then - poof! The month will be over.

Carrot Banana Muffins I found that this makes 15 muffins. I used golden raisins instead of dates, and I didn't add the nuts.

Zucchini Berry Muffins This one made 18 muffins. I used only almond flour (2 cups). Golden raisins instead of dates again, and again, no nuts.

We're Going to Party Like... The Larson's!

At sort of the last minute, we booked a trip to Vancouver and Seattle. Two reasons: 1. For a "Dangerous Dinner" with some business people that Ben wanted to talk with; 2. Visit the Larson family.

We flew into Vancouver on Wednesday. The Larson's (Shelby, Kerry and Emma) drove up from Seattle. We took a very scenic route to our hotel (note to self: always remember that iPhones don't work in Canada and so an address, at the very least, should be taken with so you can find the hotel). But we found it and got ready for our dinner. Emma came to our room to babysit Adelyn. We got to the dinner hotel a bit early, so we joined some of the other people we were meeting in the bar for a drink. And then the Dangerous Dinner began!

A week prior, Yanik (the starter of Mavrick Adventures) decided to throw something together since he was going to be in town. So with just a week's notice, the chef at the hotel put together an awesome dining experience. I was very impressed! Here is what we ate:

1. Sea cucumber - I actually liked this pretty well. It was sliced and served with mushrooms.

2. Sea scallop - Had these before, so it wasn't too crazy. And it was a little awkward to eat. It was served with a micro green salad and it wasn't clear if they should be eaten together or not. I thought the salad overpowered the scallop.

3. Python soup - This was awesome! He wanted to get rattlesnake, but couldn't on such short notice. Apparently python is pretty mildly flavored and since this python was from Vietnam, he decided to Asian up the dish. The python was made into a cake (think crab cake) and put into a spicy Thai soup. Very tasty. Loved it.

4. Squab and foie gras - (aka pigeon and duck liver) This was ok. The foie gras was very slimy, but if you ate it with the squab, it was ok. Not my favorite course.

5. Alligator loin - This was also very good. It was prepared Cajun style. I'd had alligator before in New Orleans, so this wasn't new either, but definitely not on my typical menu.

6. Orange Desserts - This was very creative. There were probably six different bite-sized orange things including a gum drop, fruit roll-up and sorbet. Very tasty.

7. Marshmallow covered chocolate - Yum!

After dinner, we headed over to the Roxy - a night club type place. For a Wednesday night, it was pretty hopping. Very interesting people watching. Around 1:30 we called it a night.

The next morning, Adelyn was still on central time, so I got to get up at 5 with her after getting to bed after 2. Yawn! After her first nap of the day, everyone was still sleeping, so the two of us went to a local diner for some breakfast. Then we packed up and headed out of town with the Larson's.

On the way home we stopped by where they film some of the show "Psych." Haven't ever seen it, but I want to move to that town! Not even joking, the street along the water had an ice cream or gelato store every third store. Heaven!

When we got to the Larson's house, Ben and Shelby had to run to her home office to do a webinar. Adelyn and I got swarmed by the remaining Larson children (Carter, Avery, Anna, and Sophia). They were excited to see Adelyn and excited about my birthday. They had blown up a ton of balloons and had them all over the house for me. So sweet! Adelyn was a little overwhelmed with all the attention, but she did pretty well.

Friday was a school day, so as the kids went off to school, they all wished me a happy birthday. Once all but Sophia left (she has afternoon kindergarten) Ben and I made monkey bread for breakfast. I had been craving it for a long time. So yummy. For lunch (by this time Sophia is at school) we went to fast food (Taco Bell and Wendy's) because I wanted to pay for the person behind us. It was fun! I think the guy at the window thought we were nuts, but I had fun.

For dinner we had pizza and watched "Despicable Me." The pizza was great and the movie was funny and good. After that, Shelby told the kids that we couldn't do the piñata because it would wake up Adelyn and besides, I wasn't very excited about it. Wha??? I quickly told her she was wrong (which was true, but even if it weren't, the kids had done that as a surprise for me and I would have played along for their sake). We came up with a solution: attach it to a broom handle with a dog leash and have Ben hold it and play in the driveway. It was so much fun!

The next morning we packed it up early and headed home. It was such a fun (albeit exhausting) trip!

Road Trip

This past weekend Adelyn and my mom and I went on a road trip to Iowa. Why? You ask. Good question. It's Iowa. But really it's because our good friends Chuck (aka Charlie) and Michelle were having their little daughter, Alaina baptized. Ben was out of town, so we decided to make it into a girl's weekend.

Saturday morning we dropped Zoey off with my dad and picked up my mom and started our trip. Adelyn slept all the way to Clear Lake (about 2 hours). We stopped at Culver's for some lunch. Then it was back on the road. Adelyn fell asleep again and slept until we got to West Des Moines. We checked into our hotel and hit the pool! Adelyn wasn't too sure about the pool. Eventually she warmed up to it and relaxed enough to splash around.

After play time, Adelyn and I got ready for the mass and baptism. (My mom decided to just chill at the hotel). Adelyn did great during mass! I was a little worried, but there were enough distractions that she was pretty good. She LOVED Michelle's grandma who was sitting behind us. A lot of waves and smiles went to her. After mass was the baptism. Adelyn started to get a little antsy towards the end, but it was getting late for her. After the baptism, I dropped her off at the hotel to go to sleep. I headed over to Chuck and Michelle's place for dinner. There were a lot of people there, but I was able to chat a bit with both of them and their families. It was a lot of fun to see them.

The next morning we hit up the pool again. A lady came to swim laps and Adelyn did not appreciate that. I think it was the noise that it created. So, we didn't stay too long. We packed up and headed out after everyone got cleaned up. Adelyn must have been tired, because she slept all the way to Burnsville! What a good traveler!

What a Trooper!

Last week we went to Florida to watch the launch of the space shuttle Discovery. It was a very neat experience. We didn't do the best job of figuring out where to watch it from, so we weren't as close as we would have liked. But we did have a great view and had a lot of fun.

The way the flights worked out, we didn't leave until 7:20 at night. And then our flight was delayed. Adelyn usually goes to be bed between 6:30 and 7. But she did great! Smiled at the flight crew. And then snuggled in for some sleep. She woke up when we landed and stayed awake through the car ordeal...

We had reserved a car. When we got to the car rental counter, the guy told us that the manager was down there where the cars were and that if we acted mad, they would comp the gas and give us half off. I thought he was trying to give us an inside scoop on how to get the car cheaper, so I joked with him about it... then he said they only had vans left. Not just any vans, 15-passenger vans. Oh, ok. Got it. We are mad about that. So we went down to get the car. And we waited. And waited. Not sure where the vans were coming from, but we ended up waiting for over one and a half hours for it. Towards the end Adelyn started to get cranky, and so was I. But we got our sweet ride and left the airport.

In the great state of Florida, there are Steak n' Shakes. This was our one chance to go there. So we were "those" parents and brought Adelyn there at 2 am. She had napped in the van, so she was awake and alert.

Finally, we made it to the hotel. But with our bellies full of burger, fries and shakes, we were pretty happy. We were the last to check in at the hotel. Thankfully we had prepaid, so they didn't give our room away. But, they didn't have any cribs left. Adelyn woke up when we were unloading the van. We made a bed for her out of extra pillows and a blanket. She thought it was a lot of fun to crawl out of her bed. Finally, she went to sleep.

After what seemed like a short night, we were up and on our way. We went to a deli that is owned by a guy that Ben knows for lunch. SO GOOD! We had a nice chat with him and then we rushed out the door to make it to the coast.

We started hitting some traffic. We both agreed that we did not want to watch the shuttle out of our ride's windows because we couldn't find or get to a place. So, we picked a rough area of where we wanted to be and headed that way. We ended up about 20 miles away from the launch, near Cocoa Beach. We had a great view and there were very few people. But being 20 miles away, we didn't see nearly the detail as we would have liked. One cool thing about being that far away was that we saw the launch and just as it was disappearing from view, we heard it. It was neat to have that much delay. Crazy!

We had dinner plans with some people we met at this year's IM cruise. Dinner was set for 6:15 just about 10 miles north of where we were. We had about an hour to get there. No problem, right? Wrong! Traffic was terrible. It was literally stopped. People were getting out of their cars to visit with other people. People were turning their cars off. RV's were pulling onto the shoulders to wait it out... We got to the restaurant around 7:15. Our friends had an even shorter distance to go and we beat them. But finally we connected and had a nice (??) Thai dinner. The question marks is because the service was terrible. It was the waitress's first night. And because of the launch it was a bit crazy. Luckily for us, we had great company. And Adelyn did great. Towards the end she started to get fussy, but by then it was after 9. Oh, and she did great in the traffic too - slept the entire time.

Even with the stop for dinner, there was still some traffic issues. We took a couple of side roads to avoid some of it. Ben let me take a nap. I don't even know what time we got back to the hotel. I think it was after 11. Adelyn was so sound asleep in her car seat, that we decided just to leave her there. But in our room, of course.

The next morning we were up at 5:30 to make our flight back home. It was a whirlwind of a trip, but we had so much fun!

A Pair of Yellow Socks and a Pink Elephant

This past weekend we were off again. This time to Dallas, TX. Ben was going for a seminar. Adelyn and I decided to tag along. We felt that coming to Dallas was the perfect trip to see how it would be for us to come with Ben on business trips. Mainly because we have friends there so I wouldn't feel so alone. I don't think any of us were recovered yet from NYC, but what do you do?

The flight to Dallas was ok. For the first time, Adelyn wasn't her happy traveling self. She cried a bit before her in-flight nap. It was less than 5 minutes of crying, but seemed like forever to us since we do not want to be "those" parents with "that" baby.

Our first night was so much fun! We went to our friends, Val and Raul's house for dinner. Val made some killer lasagna. We had a great time hanging out with them. The rest of the trip Ben was pretty occupied with the seminar. Adelyn and I joined him for lunches and one dinner.

Friday morning I was getting Adelyn dressed when I realized that I only packed one pair of socks for her and they were yellow! (To my credit, she did have one yellow outfit). It was a good thing we were headed to Walmart to grab some breakfast food to have in our room.

On the way home, Adelyn cried a bit again when she was trying to get to sleep (still don't get how crying soothes them to sleep). But really, I think she did great all things considered. After we got off the plane I changed her diaper. Midway through changing it I realized that I left her pink elephant on the plane! I quickly finished up so that we could try and get it back. Luckily they did find it and the elephant was saved! (I'm not sure if she has a favorite toy or not, but the elephant has mighty tasty feet that she loves to chew on so we would have been sad if it was lost).

So now we're back home. Adelyn and I will be home for a while. Ben will be going to Vegas in another week or so for another conference.

NYC

This past weekend we took a trip to NYC to visit our friend Will. He let us stay with him and I have to say, he was a great host! Since Ben and I have been to NYC before and did the normal tourist stuff, this time it was a little more laid back. Will brought us to some of his favorite restaurants and hang out spots. We had a great time!

For the most part Adelyn was a trooper. She was near perfect on the plane rides (a little fussy prior to take off on one because I wasn't feeding her). She slept great at nights. The main issues were 1. too much going on so she didn't nap well (re: cranky pants in the evening) 2. by the time we would get our food (this includes travel, wait time, order time and deliver time) it would be time for her to eat again. This resulted in me eating a few lukewarm meals. But overall, I'm proud of how well she did.

We had a lot of Asian food while we were there. We had Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Thai. I think the Thai meal was my favorite. One of Will's friends joined us for that meal. She's Thai so we let her and Will handle the ordering. So good! Actually, for a lot of the meals we let Will order. He has great taste!

So now we're home. Trying to recover because we leave again for Dallas soon. :)

Girl's Weekend 2010

Last weekend was my annual Girl's Weekend. I really look forward to the time with my friends. Usually it's during the summer, but with having Adelyn, our tradition was thrown a bit. This past weekend was it! This year we went to Hastings. No particular reason other than it was close by, but far enough away from normal to make it feel like a get away.

We set out in the morning. It was a quick drive there. And pretty too. It was about peak for the trees. We walked around Main Street for a bit and got a lunch recommendation. We headed over to the Muddy Waters Cafe for lunch. After lunch we went to Elm Spa for facials and massages. The facial was great and the Chai tea was awesome. Instead of heading to an apple orchard like we had planned, we were all too relaxed to want to do much. So we checked into our hotel and talked about a dinner plan. We ended up at a Mexican place that kind of reminded me of El Loro. But you only get one basket of chips. What's up with that?? But dinner was good. Then it was hot tub time! Then we played games (Who, What, Where) and talked. And talked. The next morning we hit a cafe for breakfast and were on our way home.

I had a great time! It was so nice to be with my friends for more than just a quick chat. It was hard to be away from Adelyn though. Especially since she was on a hunger strike and didn't want to eat from a bottle (even though she has before). I am so thankful that Ben wanted me to have this time and that he made it work.

Small World

A couple of weeks ago, there were two instances where I was reminded of how small our world is (or maybe just mine). One of my old coworkers from EB had a birthday. I wrote on his wall. Later that day I noticed that a guy that I met at Lake Minnetonka last year also wished him a happy birthday. Weird. That same week I had a friend have a scare (thought her military brother had been involved in a fatal crash in Alaska) I commented on her status. Also commenting on her status was a family friend of ours. Weird.

Showers

A few months back I didn't have hot water for my shower. I checked the fuses. I went to check the pilot light (where I discovered we didn't have one). Then, it started to work. Strange. But whatever. Last week, no hot water. So I tried my magic again. It worked, but to a lesser degree - the hot water didn't last. I called the manufacturer and we figured out what the problem was (LED light pattern helped with this). Parts are still under warranty, so they sent the parts over next day. We got them on Saturday. I thought it was just a wire, turns out it was the gas harness. So, we decided this was a job for a professional. I called a random place (they were on the manufacturers website as a service provider). The guy was kind of grumpy. But the guy that actually showed up was awesome! He was super friendly. He was great with Zoey too (found out on the way to the utility room that he has a dog). And he was out in less than an hour. And we have hot water now! Woo hoo!

Tuesday night my girlfriends threw us a shower. I had such a great time. The food was great. The games were fun. And Baby Roy got a lot of cool things. The one game was for people to decorate onesies. It was fun to see their creativity show up on them. My book club friends made book themed ones. The dog lovers made ones with "Zoey was here" and "Zoey's girl" on them. I am so blessed to have such an awesome group of friends that I have met along my life's journey so far. Life is so much fun with them.

Where has the time gone??

Can't believe that it has been so long since my last post. Someone might think I'm busy or something. :)

The weekend after the Omaha trip, my friend Cassie and I took a mini-road trip to New Ulm for a friend's wedding. It was a beautiful day for a drive. The wedding was nice. In between the wedding and reception we tried to visit my great-aunt. But she wasn't in her room (assisted living). Turns out she was down the hall playing cards. Oh, and I hadn't called ahead just in case it turned out not to work out. So, it wasn't her fault. And I'm glad she was having a fun day with friends. We did end up visiting Cassie's cousin. We visited for about 1/2 hour then back on the road for the reception (that was in Mankato). At the reception, we were just getting ready to leave when a slow song started. The best man came over and asked Cassie to dance. She said yes. I knew immediately that he didn't realize she was married. It was fun to tease her.

The next day I had a wonderful baby shower at the church I grew up in. A lot of cute pink and girly outfits! So excited to have someone to dress in them. :)

Then the following weekend Ben and I headed to Seattle to visit some friends. It was so much fun! We had a blast hanging with the Larson's. They have 5 kids, so at times it was a little crazy. But the kids were good kids. And they got along with each other so well. And they seemed to like us. Two of them when we were leaving asked when we were coming back. One suggested that we move closer so we could visit more often. How sweet!

This past weekend we had our baby classes. Better than I was expecting, but sitting all day for two days is not that great in my "condition." But it's over.

Omaha!

Last weekend my friend Heather and I took a road trip to Omaha. My cousin Ryan was getting married and her mom had invited her to a women's conference at church. Perfect! Months ago the plan was for our husbands to join us, but that didn't work out. For us it was not knowing for sure if we would even be going, so we didn't plan ahead. When we found out about the wedding we had no idea if I could or should make the 6+ hour car ride to Omaha. In the end it worked out great! Heather and I had a great ride there and back. We stopped in Des Moines to visit her dad and sister and her family. And once in Omaha we stayed with her mom. The whole weekend was fun. So glad that I decided to go.

The only "bad" thing was that my grandma wasn't able to make the trip. I was looking forward to seeing her as her health hasn't been the best (she's 94, so I think she is allowed to have health issues). But now I don't know when we will see her. I don't think another long road trip can happen for me until after Baby Roy comes. Hopefully it will work out to get a visit in.

DC

This past weekend we went to DC to hang out with Ben's brother. We left on Thursday (my birthday) and got back last night. John, Sara and Simon picked us up from the airport. We ended up taking a "detour" on the way to the hotel to stop at the Melting Pot for dessert. So thoughtful of Ben to think of that.

Friday we spent the day in DC. We had gotten on the list for a "tour" of the White House and of the Capitol building. Our WH tour was "scheduled" for 8:30 am. We got there around 7:45 and got the pleasure of waiting in the rain for over an hour to get in. And it turns out that it is a self-guided tour, so you were with a mass of people filing through the 6 or so open rooms. I was not impressed. The highlights were seeing secret service walk around with big guns and walking out the front door of the WH. But without anyone telling me why I should care that this room is green and that one is blue, I didn't find the tour all that useful.

The Capitol tour, on the other hand, was great! Our Congressman likes to make sure his peeps get a personal experience. So it was Ben and me and three others with one of his aides on the tour. It was great! She was funny, and knowledgeable. She shared with us the history of the building, rooms and art. We even witnessed a proposal in the old Senate room. So cool!

Saturday night we got together with our friend Chris that lives out that way. He took us to a great Thai place and to a movie (Hot Tub Time Machine). It was a wonderful way to spend the evening! We all laughed throughout the night. It was fun to be able to see Chris between cruises.

Other than that, we hung out with John, Sara and Simon. I thought Simon was super cute. And fun to be around. He's 6 weeks and doing great.

Busy Weekend!

This week/weekend while Ben was away, I was able to keep myself pretty busy.

Thursday night I went to poker. Not to play. But to eat. It was at James' house last week and he always has great food. This time was no exception. He made Japanese Fried Noodles outside on his propane wok.

Saturday I helped my friend Andrea move. And don't worry - no heavy lifting for me. I helped pick up the moving truck, disassemble furniture, empty the fridge... The best part was to see her new house. It's is very nice. The only thing I don't like about it is that it's not as close to me as her old place was. Oh, well. I'm still happy for her.

Saturday night I went to my sister's place to celebrate her husband's and step-daughter's birthdays. It feels like I haven't seen them forever, so it was nice to spend some time with them. Before they move to Chicago. Yep, they're moving. Their house will go on the market next Monday. I'm excited for them, but also sad... this will be the first time in my life that we won't be in the Minneapolis area together.

Sunday, a group of us girls headed out to Red Wing to visit a friend that moved to a farm out there. The drive was beautiful. And the lunch and conversation were fabulous! I had so much fun.

And today, Ben comes home! So excited.

On My Own

Ben left Thursday for India. He'll be back next Sunday. So far, I have been keeping reasonably busy.
Thursday night I was going to poker (just to socialize, not play) but Zoey got sick again, so I decided to stay home.
Friday after work I took a nap and then went out to dinner with some friends. I had so much fun. And I laughed so much. We went to Pop restaurant in Minneapolis. The waiter brought us much amusement. When he came to the table he informed us that there was only one bowl of soup left and only one glass of a certain wine left. Ok. Seemed strange since it was still early for a Friday night, but whatever. After he took our order he came back a few minutes later to tell me that they only had one order of flautas left (I ordered two since it was an appetizer and he said it was small). So I changed my order to one order of flautas and one order of empanadas. A few minutes after that he came back to verify Heidi and Katie's orders. When the food arrived he discovered that he forgot to put Alyssa's order in. He told us he would treat us to dessert. I should also mention that he decided to speak Spanish to me... because I ordered Mexican food?!? Then he brought the dessert menus. We asked what he would recommend and he said the sampler. But since that was the most expensive dessert he told us he would chip in $5. Ok. I guess he didn't really mean that he was going to treat us to dessert. Whatever. But despite all that, we had a great time there. Actually, some of our laughs were around our waiter, so maybe without him it wouldn't have been so fun.
Saturday Zoey and I slept in until 7:30. We made some banana bread (ok, I made that) and I also cooked her some rice and chicken. Friday she only ate 1 cup of food instead of her normal 3 cups. When I got home from my dinner, she was more interested in sleeping than eating even though her stomach was growling like crazy. I figured maybe her stomach needed some easy food. She loved her breakfast. She kept asking for more. After that I met my mom at the mall to do some maternity shopping. I was only going to get a couple of pairs of work pants... but the sales lady and my mom got me to try on a whole bunch of stuff. I ended up with a bunch of clothes. But they should last until the baby comes. Hopefully Ben won't freak out too much when he sees the bill...
Sunday so far has been spent cleaning the kitchen. I washed dishes and cleaned off the counters. I washed all the cupboards, cleaned all the appliances and swept and mopped the floor. It looks nice. When I talked to Ben I told him he better be impressed. :) Now I'm trying to figure out what to eat this week so I can go to the grocery store.

And the Doctor Said...

Friday night we went out to dinner with Grant and his current girl and David and Heather. We went to Loring Pasta Bar. It was the first time I had been there. I had been "craving" mac and cheese. I was so excited when it was on their menu. ( I put craving in quotes because this is a fairly common craving for me and has nothing to do with the little person inside of me). We had a great time at dinner.

Towards the end, I was getting very uncomfortable. I wasn't sure if I had to go to the bathroom, my pants were too tight or my body was tired of sitting. When we got home it hurt to walk. I wasn't too concerned and went to bed. The next morning I woke up and the pain was still there. I wasn't overly worried yet, but I decided I should tell Ben. He said I should call the doctor. Ok, fine. When I explained what I was feeling to the doctor, she said it sounded like just a pulled muscle and that unless it got worse, not to worry about it. So, instead of taking down the Christmas tree (yes, it's still up), I sat on the couch all day.

On Sunday Ben and I ran to the store together to buy some food for the big game. We made 1899 BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches, veggies and dip, chips and guacamole and brownies. Who knew that eating like it's 1899 could be so darn tasty? When we got home from the store I discovered an empty wrapper to a 300 gram (14 oz) chocolate bar in our bedroom. I called downstairs to Ben to see how much was actually left (I brought it home from my layover in Germany in the fall and he had slowly been eating the bars). He said there was a whole one. Yep, that's the wrapper I found.

After scolding Zoey, Ben ran down to the computer to see what we should do while I called the emergency vet. The vet said to induce vomiting with hydrogen peroxide. After she emptied her stomach we were to then bring her in to get some active charcoal (to help absorb the toxins). I hated the thought of giving her HP so I gave her an egg instead (that usually makes her puke). She ate it happily and didn't throw up. So, she got the HP anyway. Not a fun experience for any of us. But sure enough, a few minutes later she vomited outside. We didn't get the whole dose (2 oz) in her, so we decided to go ahead and finish the dose. She was expecting it and it was even more difficult to get any down her throat. After waiting 15 minutes with no results, we gave up and went upstairs.

Ben and I then debated if we should take her in. It wasn't a lethal dose. And I'm pretty sure the vet (who isn't our vet) wanted us to come in so we could pay them. As we were discussing what we should do, Zoey vomited again. This time a lot. On our carpet (on a side note - this is really gross, but it smelled like chocolate so for the first time in my life I didn't mind cleaning it up). We went to work cleaning it up. I think the carpet looks pretty good. Whew. I called our vet today (Zoey needs her annual check up anyway) and mentioned the chocolate episode. They did not seem worried about it based on her size and the size of the bar and that we were able to get her to vomit it back up. Poor little girl. But tomorrow at her appointment we will be talking about her eating habits.

Cruisin'

On January 8, Ben and I left for the annual Internet Marketers Cruise. Years ago we discovered the wisdom of arriving the day before a cruise in case of delays. Guess what? We were delayed. There was an issue with our main radio on the plane. The radio was fixed in not too long of time, but because of the delay, our flight crew would be over hours. So we got to deplane to wait for the new flight crew. In exchange we got $100 Delta vouchers, 2500 bonus miles, and we got to the hotel at 4 am instead of 11 pm of the night before. Oh, well.
Day 1: Cape Canaveral - It was cold! Temp was around 30. The line to get through security for the cruise ship is outside. We were all a little miserable. If I had known that it was going to be so cold, I would have brought my winter coat. Ben was sweet and tried to get me to skip ahead to get inside. But since you still can't really tell that I'm pregnant, I felt guilty because I know how much I hate line cutters. But we survived. Once we got on the boat we took a self-guided tour led by Tim. That night there was a social hour before dinner to connect with the other marketers. It was so nice to see friends from last year again. Sherry is super excited that I'm pregnant. After dinner, Tim and I went to the show. After that the put an inflatable laser tag arena on the stage. Somehow Chris talked me into playing. It was so much fun! And man! 5 minutes is a long time. I felt so out of shape. Ben and some others played after us (I surprised Ben by still being awake since I hardly slept the night before).
Day 2: At Sea - Cold and windy! It was funny to walk along the Lido deck and not see very many people. And what people were braving the elements were huddled in blankets. We watched an ice carving demonstration. Then went to part of the art auction. Ben had a meeting with the other marketers, so I sat in on some of the auction and poked around the ship.
Day 3: Cozumel - What's this I see? Could it be? The sun? But it was still super windy. Ben and I went for a run on the outdoor track. When you rounded the end of the ship you really had to push through the wind. But then once you headed the other way, you had to put on the breaks. It was a little strange. Due to this wonderful weather, we decided the beach was not the way to go. So we just went to downtown and window shopped. We did buy a necklace and earring set for me. :)
Day 4: Isla Roatan, Honduras - Slight drizzle. Fun. There was a beach party excursion only for the marketers. We hadn't signed up for it. Turns out a bunch hadn't. So those that didn't found our own transportation to the same beach. It was super cloudy - so cloudy I didn't get sunburned. But the temperature was in the upper 60's so it was comfortable. Our friend Max Action got his hair braided. Elisabeth and I worked on a sand sculpture of some fertility goddess (her idea). Overall it was a fun day.
Day 5: Belize - I was super excited to be in Belize. I have heard of the amazing diving and snorkeling. Unfortunately, no diving for me. So we decided to go snorkeling. We took a public water taxi to an island 45 minutes away from Belize City and walked through the quaint island to the public beach. The beach wasn't much of a beach. We sunscreened up and headed for the water. It was cold! We snorkeled across a channel and around some mangroves. I will admit that I freaked out. The visibility was pretty low. And so I started to imagine what else was in the water with us. I calmed down enough to somewhat enjoy the snorkel back to the beach, but we really didn't see much. We did see some rays and some barracuda, but that's about it. Once we got out of the water, we decided to call it a day. There looked to be a storm on the way. The water taxi is uncovered and neither one of us was interested in a rainy ride.
Day 6: Costa Maya, Mexico - Finally! A perfect day! Temps were in the 70's. The sky was clear and the sun was radiant! We got off the ship and headed to the taxis. We ended up running into our friend Joseph with a few of his buddies. They had the same plan as us - beach to snorkel. We shared a cab to the beach. A guy baited and hooked us with $20 per person for 1 hour of snorkeling and the lady goes free pitch. The snorkeling was fabulous! Not the best ever, but so cool! Saw tons of fish and other sea creatures. It was the perfect day.
Day 7: At Sea - Ben had meetings pretty much all day, so I was on my own. I did the 1 mile walk for breast cancer. It was windy on deck for this too. But it was fun. Had a nice chat about cruising with a lady from Canada.

This was a super short summary of our activities. Not listed are the antics at night with our friends. We had so much fun. A lot of fond memories to tide us over until next year!

Saturday Fun Despite the Snow

A few days back Ben decided that he was going to play in the poker tournament at Canterbury on Saturday. I decided it would be fun to arrange a girl's shopping trip. Unfortunately my usual shopping buddies were all out of town. On Friday night at dinner, Smeeta asked if I wanted to join her, Katie and Karin. Perfect! So yesterday we hit Albertville. They had some ridiculous deals at some places (buy one pair of shoes, get two free). I found a few new tops for me for work and some pants for Ben.

After that we bundled up and changed the group a bit to exclude Karin (other plans) and include James and Rob and we headed out to a corn maze. It was dark out, so armed with some flashlights (and perhaps a flask) we hit the maze. We had a lot of fun trying to get lost and unlost. We went through the maze two times. To warm up after that we headed over to Old Chicago. We were going to get a large pizza, but they were out. ??? So we had some personal sized pizzas. I guess that works. But WAY too much food. But now I have lunch for another day, I guess.

Oh, and most of our snow is gone now. (We only had about 1/4 to 1/2 inch). In shady places it is still hanging out. And we saw a few flakes while shopping. I think we're entering the next ice age here in Minnesota.

Bowlin' and Singin'

Last weekend was my end-of-the season volleyball party. Since we play in the parking lot of a bowling alley, we got free bowling. I brought my friend Levrette along. This was his second time ever bowling. He did remarkably well considering. The first game he was only behind me by 9 pins. The second game you could tell his arm was getting tired. I told him we would try out Wii bowling at some point.

Last night it snowed. Grrr. Don't get me wrong, I love snow, just not in October. I'm trying to work myself up for a run this morning. Which probably means I should get off of my computer to eat a little something. And drink some water.

But before I do that, I'll quick write about last night. We went to dinner with a group of friends. Followed by going to the VFW for some karaoke. It was hilarious. Some people were really good. Others were really drunk. Within the first hour I think "Folsome Prison" by Johnny Cash was song no fewer than 5 times. We were trying to get some from our group to sing it too. We had cash offers for "I'm too Sexy" and "Little Drummer Boy" but no takers.