Early summer in the garden

Our big and beautiful Black Walnut tree, after having a year off from nut production last year, is back with a bumper crop this year. The tree goes in three year cycles. Amy and I have been researching the best way to harvest, cure and store the nuts this year. We'll have to fight the hoard of squirrels that flock to the tree for them. They like to sit up on the lower limbs and throw the walnuts at passing humans. Seriously. They are cantankerous little bastards.Columbine

Hosta, astilbe and a rock cairn I don't know what these delicate little yellow flowers are called, do you? I like to find out...
Heliotrope
Verbena

We have a lot of purple plants for some reason!

Iris

The Belly - 21 weeks

Photo by Nataraj

Love and Baseball Weekend

What we call "Love and Baseball" is our unofficial anniversary. We celebrated this year by traveling to Wisconsin to see friends in Madison and the Twins in Milwaukee. We were nearly thwarted by the horrible flooding and road closures and what should have been 9 hours of driving turned into something more like 14 as we circumnavigated the state. The Twins won and there was blueberry pie at the Norske Nook at the end, so it was still a good weekend for us.

Twins vs. Brewers at Miller Park in Milwaukee 6/14/2008

Twins won 9-4 in 12 innings

GREAT game!

Snips and snails and puppy-dog tails

Well, well. Babe is 20 weeks along in gestation and we had our half-way point ultrasound today. Looks like we have a healthy little boy in there!

Fist headed to mouth, sucking his thumb already!

Obama at the Xcel Center

Nathan and George were able to go. I had to miss it due to my law class. However, my professor, who is a PhD in Political Science as well as a lawyer, was late to class because he had done several interviews with local media regarding the event. So, at least I got to discuss it with my class! Here's the note from Nathan, in case you didn't see it!

Long line...And worth it. George and I started in Rice Park.

Check out the full line here: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/news_cut/archive/2008/06/just_get_in_line.shtml

20,000 people inside the Xcel and another 15,000 who didn't get in watching on the big screen outside. Quite the deal.

-Nathan

The quickening

Or "Holy Mindfuck, Batman! There's something moving inside me!"

The term "the quickening" means a couple of different things. According to The Oxford Dictionary "quicken" means to "give life or vigor to; rouse." So it refers to the point at which a fetus' brain has developed enough to start sending electric pulses to the limbs causing them to move. It also refers to the first time or times a pregnant woman feels the fetus move inside her. This last meaning, I refer to as the mindfuck.

You see, pregnancy is quite sucky the first tri-mester with all the fatigue and nausea. But other than feeling generally crappy like I had a bastard of a Wild Turkey hangover that lasted for six weeks, the whole pregnancy thing was still somewhat of a concept more than a reality. Even after getting ultrasound pictures of the little rascal, it still seemed like pictures of someone else's kid, not mine.

Then, the second tri-mester rolled around andI felt great! I felt so good and normal for awhile that I began, in fact, to question whether or not I was actually pregnant. Not that I want to complain about feeling good but it makes the fact that a child is on its way even more of a concept than a reality. At least when I felt like puking, I knew there was a reason for it.

Then, the mindfuck.

For several days I had thought that maybe some of the odd sensations that I was feeling were more than simply gas pains or run of the mill digestive action, but I wasn't sure. Then one day, I felt this gentle prodding, this poking, this mild jabbing sensation even and it happened five times in a row in the exact same spot. I knew at that point that it must be the fetus trying out its legs. Or arms. Or anything its got, HEY! (I thought you'd enjoy the Hokey Pokey earworm for the day :P) So, whoa! It's not so much of a concept anymore. There's actually something moving around in there! And, it's fiesty. I've taken to refering to it as the Pamplemousse as it's about the size of a small grapefruit these days. Not to mention that I crave fruit, particularly citrus constantly. While it has been hard to imagine that there's a fetus 5 inches long growing in my tummy, it is starting to make itself apparent by rapidly expanding my waistline. I'm starting to look pregnant and I imagine that in a few more weeks the whole world will be able to tell that my belly is the product of more than a weekend cheesecake binge. Mmm...cheesecake... Did I mention that I'm hungry? All the time? So, here's the deal. Want to guess how much weight I'll gain before this is all over? Winner is the closest quess without going over. Leave your guess in the comments and add $5 bucks to the pool next time you see me (or mail it to me). Winner takes all. For reference, I am normally 145-150. Average women gain 25-35 with a healthy pregnancy. I do have an affection for gluttony. Guess away!

4.0

Final grades for Spring semester were posted today and I got an A. This may be the first time ever I've had a cumulative grade point average of 4.0 two semesters running. This semester's class, Professional Ethics, was not hard but it was arduous. I dreaded it, in fact. I've spent a lot of time questioning the wisdom of starting a Masters degree in my 30's. Why, exactly, am I doing this? Yeah, yeah career advancement, blah, blah life long learning, personal enrichment and so on. I'm putting myself through what could potentially be a spirit crushing 8 week law for nonprofits intensive this summer. Why am I really doing this? I am not a glutton for punishment. I don't routinely do things that hurt or, frankly, tax me in any way. I like to lounge about, taking it easy. So, it must be the promise of money. Isn't that the real reason Americans do anything? I will put myself through three years of grad school misery only because there is the promise of a six figure salary at the other end.

The truth comes out.