So we're going to need a bigger car...

Last week, I had a mad craving for greasy fried green tomatoes.


I knew there must be a good reason for it.


Elijah is a big brother.

I'm due on April 8th, 2007, which puts me currently at 6-1/2 weeks. The baby's tiny heart is already beating!



Here's a description of what's going on with our baby right now, taken from FitPregnancy.com:

"Your baby enters its second month of development, weighing no more than a chocolate chip or a berry. It's about five to thirteen millimeters long (less than half an inch), and weighs less than a gram (0.8g), or less than one-twentieth of an ounce.

The human blueprints are already visible. Your child still has a tail but is also beginning to form a digestive tract, lungs, nostrils, hands and feet, and a bump of a mouth. The liver, tongue, and lenses of your baby's eyes are forming. There are beds for your baby's fingernails, and the buds of teeth are forming in the gums.

If you could take a picture, your baby would look more like a baby and less like a reptile. The baby's nerve channels and muscles are connecting, and the body can wiggle when the cells communicate.

In just two days, from days thirty-one to thirty-three, the brain becomes one-quarter larger. If you were to have an ultrasound, it would be able to detect the beating heart, which shows up looking like a tiny flashing light."


We need a nickname for the chocolate-chip sized person. Any suggestions?

Now Hear This.....

In lieu of my normal "listening lists", I'm going to spotlight one particular band that I think is really doing some unique things. I will get back to the listening lists at some point, but right now, because I got so far behind, it'll have to be a several part series.
Anyway, Peter And The Wolf, an Austin-based band (of sorts) is embarking on a very unique tour, which has actually been ongoing since the end of June. Here is their press release:
“This summer, Austin-based artist Peter And The Wolf will take to the roads, the off-roads, and even the seas on their North American tour. Transportation for the last leg of this tour will be a sailboat (yes, a sailboat) a fact which has garnered quite a bit of media attention over the past few weeks, given our nation’s current energy crisis. Singer Red Hunter has become an unwitting spokesman overnight for touring musicians everywhere and their response to the inflated gas prices, having now talked with MTV News, ABC World News Tonight and Good Morning America on the subject. In the indie blog world, Peter And The Wolf already have a much-hyped 4-track CD released a few months back on Red’s own Whiskey And Apples label.
For the first leg of the tour, Hunter will be traveling as a ‘divine orchestra of junk metal’ in every town. This pick-up ensemble will reach up to 20 members in some cities, with Hunter on guitar/vocals while the orchestra provides the rhythm section. Some of these shows will be held at traditional rock venues, while some will be held at non-traditional venues far off the beaten path. When he reaches the East Coast, hunter will join forces with Castanets (Asthmatic Kitty) and Jana Hunter (Gnomonsong) for a sailboat journey along the Intracoastal Waterway from New York to Savannah, with tour stops held in cities along the waterway. The idea first came when Red joked with Jana Hunter (no relation) over a game of pool that they ought to travel by sailboat to make touring the adventure it should be. Captaining the boat will be WFMU host OCDJ, who wears a real eye patch. A documentary about their voyage will be made by a young filmmaker from the groundbreaking movie Invisible Children.
Though Peter And The Wolf is a new project, Red found himself with a sudden cult status after his Order Of The Owl performances last year which took place in off-radar venues like graveyards, abandoned buses, under bridges, and even an island the audience could only reach by canoe. The kids quickly discovered there was a big demand for shows that gave quiet music the reverence it deserved, forcing the participants to take risks, jump fences, and even hide from cops in order to attend. ‘It was sort of a cross between throwing a rave and having a forbidden religious meeting under a communist government,’ says Hunter. Photos from these shows can be seen on their website. Fittingly, Peter And The Wolf’s summer tour and documentary will include a series of unusual venues in the Midwest. It’s limited to a few secret shows by word-of-mouth, but we can tell you that so far a barn, a burned-down house, and a crashed boxcar have all been scouted.”

PS: Also, check out Castanets, and pretty much everything else that Asthmatic Kitty releases. Good stuff.

Germany Update

So, not that it matters a whole lot to most of you, since Germany is Germany, regardless of where we’ll actually be stationed, but we have a change in assignments. I was initially on orders to report to the 21st Theater Support Command, in Kaiserslautern, which is on the southwest side of the country, in the region of Rheinlandpfalz. The 21st is the main logistics depot for all US Army units in Germany. Earlier this week, 1st PERSCOM (this, I’m sure, means nothing to you) has changed my assignment to the 1st Armored Division, in Baumholder, which is still in the region of Rheinlandpfalz, but looks to be about 30 minutes or so northwest of Kaiserslautern. I will likely be assigned to a Forward Support Battalion, within one of the armored brigades. The Forward Support Battalion basically serves as the primary logistics and equipment repair battalion for an armored brigade. Second Brigade, the one I’m most likely headed to, consists of: Two mechanized infantry battalions, one armored battalion, one field artillery battalion, one engineer battalion, one cavalry troop, one military intelligence company, one signal company, one military police company, and one forward support battalion (where I’ll likely be going).

Here are answers to a few questions, I’m sure some of you have:

-When will we be coming home? I don’t know because we’re waiting to receive our passports, which we applied for yesterday (August 10th). It is a two-week process before we’ll receive the passports back in the mail. The reason we have to wait until they come back is because the Army won’t cut our airline tickets until they see our passports. And without tickets I can’t sign out on leave to come home.

-Will we come home for Christmas? Probably not. A partial reason is because we will not receive our household goods shipment until October, and will just be getting settled by December. The other reason is that Hannah will be living in England, and isn’t coming home for Christmas, so we’ll be able to be each other’s home away from home.

-How long will we be over there? Three years.

-Will I be deploying? I have no idea about the Army-wide deployment schedules, but if we’re staying for three years, I’m sure I’ll be deployed somewhere.

-Are we looking forward to going? Well, let’s just say, I’m trying to be positive about the whole move. We’re only going to Germany because the other choice was Korea, and that is an unaccompanied tour (no family). I didn’t want to go to either place. All I have to say is that Germany had better be really, really great to make it worth the hassle of moving our entire lives over there, and possibly significantly lowering our standard of living from what it is now. I know that it’ll be a great experience, but it has definitely been quite a hassle for many reasons. Faith says I’m too pessimistic about the move, which is definitely true. So, right now, I’m just trying to put on my happy face. I'll hopefully get to see some bands I've never seen before so that's one upside.

The Yarn Boy

At the risk of everyone keeling over in shock that I'm actually posting again, I must give you a link. I have a list of blogs that I read every day, and today, this guy made Greg and I laugh quite hard. (Read to end) Leave him a comment if you can. =)

Ok....

Well. Yesterday Greg was finally able to talk with someone from our new branch (can't remember who this person is, but they have information and power to place Greg in this place or that.)

The guy, suprisingly, said that Greg didn't have to train to be a Quartermaster right now. He can worry about that later. Instead, he will go to his next duty station to command a company. The only two available spots for that are...(ready?) Korea or Germany.

Greg didn't like either option, but after hanging up with the guy and talking with me, he called the guy back and said that we'd take Germany.

Later on in the day, we got the advanced assignment instructions, which means that the order has been put in, and Greg is going to get his official orders today or sometime this week.

Our report date for Germany is September 15th, so we're going to try and move out of here by the end of the month so that we can have some time to visit with our families up North before we leave.

I would type more about how I'm feeling about this and what our immediate plans are and such, but the boys need breakfast and I need to get us ready to go to the gym shortly, so Greg or I will give you all more updates later.

Through the looking glass

I was picking up my new glasses yesterday, and the sales-lady showed me how thick my glasses would be if there wasn't the technology we have today for thin lenses. My prescription thickness is on the left, as compared to "normal" lenses.

The glass doesn't have a band on the edge or anything. That's really how thick the lenses would be. Insane. Thank God for scientists and technology. Holy crap.

By the way, the picture was taken with my little LG camera phone. I am amazed at the clarity of the shot, all blown up like this. I had expected it to be all grainy and indistinct, but not so!

This has nothing to do with anything, so I'll just launch right into it. If you don't read my knitting and spinning and crafty blog, you may not know that I produce a monthly podcast called The Knitting Cook. This is partially because the idea of anyone that I know listening to me talk on and on about knitting, cooking and spinning makes me quite embarrassed, but Greg has insisted that I let you all in on it. Listen if you must. Please don't feel that you have to though.

If you've just read that and are now scratching your head thinking "what in the heck is a pod-what?!", then go here first. You don't need an iPod to listen to one, you can just listen straight from your computer. They're free, and there are podcasts on every topic you can think of, and some that you can't.

Occasionally Greg and I will say "I bet there wouldn't be one about..." and then we find it, of course. (Actually, that only happened once, and I won't tell you what Greg said that there wouldn't be a podcast about.)

So. There you go. I'm (sort of) famous. And now you know.

Sarcy created this logo for me. Isn't it cute? She's so talented.

If you do happen to listen to the show and like it, please tell me. If it turns out that it was so horrible that you couldn't get through it or other such criticism, you are released from the obligation (of telling me). ;)



P.S. In case you're not totally at home in the online world yet, let me give you a hint: all of the blue underlined words are links. If you click on them, you will go somewhere else (i.e. another web page) that will explain what I am talking about. Cool, huh?

To love and to cherish...

A mildly PG post that might gross some people (i.e. my siblings) out.

Yesterday marks 5 years of being married to my best friend, and the hottest guy I know.








We've been through good times and bad, and have an even better relationship than when we started; we're constantly growing together as a couple.

Some of our friends recently asked us how we are able to remain so deeply in love, and we told them that it has to do with selflessness (giving 200% of yourself regardless of what the other person is doing), and pursuit.

To gain the love and adoration of your spouse in the first place, you dated each other. It was all about the chase, getting them, getting to spend time together, getting to talk with each other, etc. If that stops, the whole relationship turns into little more than roomates. It's difficult to feel needed, desired, adored, if the extent of the marriage happens in front of the tv or divided up between kids/hobbies/work etc.

If you've stopped dating your spouse, you can start again now! It's never too late to start. Now that you're married, you've got more at stake than ever. Learn what makes your husband/wife feel loved (cleaning the house? saying "I love you"? little gifts? kisses etc?), and invest time in fufilling that.

Relationships take cultivation, and a loving, secure marriage relationship is awesome! I feel like the luckiest person I know, because I get to live with my best friend (with benefits!).

(Warning: the PG spot)
Speaking of which, who says that sex gets boring when you are sleeping with the same person for years? We have found that everything gets better as we grow closer. The more time we spend loving each other, the better time we have...well, having a good time. ;)

I love you, Greg. Thank you so much for always keeping up the chase.

PS. Two books that revolutionized our marriage, from the very start, are Gary Chapman's, "The Five Love Languages" (which, pretty much everyone should read, regardless of whether they're in a romantic relationship or not), and "The Act of Marriage", by Tim & Beverly LaHaye (I'll leave it up to you to figure out what the "Act" refers to).

Elijah Walking

So we realized that we hadn't posted any more videos of Elijah walking, since he started walking back in June. He's actually quite fast now, so here are two videos.

Little Drummer Boys...

So, I guess it'll be drum sets for all, this Christmas.

Recent Movies Rented, Part II of V

Read "Recent Movies Rented, Part I of V", to understand the rating system.


The Chronicles of Narnia – The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe: !!!! 2005; Starring Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Tilda Swinton, and Liam Neeson



So apparently I’m a real loser for not having read any of the Chronicles of Narnia. Regardless, I thought this was an excellent movie. Faith said that there were a lot of parts that got left out, and also a lot of scenes that were drawn from The Magician’s Nephew, the first of the seven-book installment (The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, is the second). Despite the unfortunate limitations of cinema, I was very impressed, and look forward to seeing Prince Caspian, in 2008.


Melinda & Melinda: !!! 2004; Starring Radha Mitchell and Will Ferrell



As a general rule, I can’t stand Woody Allen movies, but this one was an exception. Without ruining the whole plot, the basic story is a dark comedy about a woman named Melinda, and the well-crafted dichotomy of two different life scenarios and the eventual outcome of each, if that makes sense. Basically, a back-and-forth story about two different lives of Melinda.


Grizzly Man: !!! 2005; Starring Timothy Treadwell



A documentary starring controversial grizzly watcher, Timothy Treadwell. The film covers Treadwell’s 13-year self-study of living with wild grizzly bears. Tragic but I found it quite intriguing.


Bourne Identity: !!!! 2002; Starring Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, and Julia Stiles



The Bourne series are probably my favorite action-spy movies, because, as far as I can tell, they seem to be the most realistic ones I’ve ever seen. Based on the book series by Robert Ludlum, the character, Jason Bourne is an American field operative who wakes up in a fishing boat, after having been floating in the Mediterranean Sea, unconscious. He has amnesia, and doesn’t remember who he is or why he ended up there. Very suspenseful, and the first of two movies (second is The Bourne Supremacy). Robert Ludlum actually wrote three books for the Bourne series, so hopefully there will be a third movie to complete the story.


This is Spinal Tap (Special Edition): !!!! 1984; Rob Reiner



Hopefully this one doesn’t need a description for anyone. Definitely a classic. Most have probably already seen it years ago. The special edition includes theatrical trailers about cheese rolling festivals, David St. Hubbins with strait hair in an early short that eventually evolved into the film, Rob Reiner begging people to show the movie in their theaters, and a ton of deleted scenes that develop and explain the cold sores the band keeps ending up with.