Nuggets of Matt Brilliance

"I'd like to adopt a second identity.  I think I'd enjoy being a part of the criminal underground."

End-of-summer Checklist

I head back to school bright and early tomorrow morning.  I'm looking forward to seeing friends and colleagues again and to getting settled into my classroom.  Still, I always feel a bit melancholy as this time of year approaches.  To fend off the blues, it helps to think about how productive (relatively speaking) I was over the summer:

1.  Visited Minnesota?  Check.  For two whole weeks!  It was like we were living at home again.

2.  Visited Las Vegas?  Check.  (Though this city is not nearly as great while one is pregnant)

3.  Visited local museums?  Check.  And two of them were new visits!  Thank you, Groupon.  It's always a treat to visit a new museum, especially in this part of the country.

4.  Cleaned every inch of our house?  Check.  As a bonus, I completely gutted the closet in Franny's future room.  I'm sure s/he appreciates that.

5.  Canned like a Little House on the Prairie cast member?  Check.  Our pantry is stocked once again with hand-picked vegetables, homemade marinara sauce, jams, pickles and other goodies.  After we make a trip to the apple orchard in the fall, I'll finish it up with some applesauce.

6.  Read several books without thinking about character analysis or literary criticism?  Check.  Realizing that I won't be able to continue reading at this pace once school starts is always the hardest part about saying goodbye to summer.

7.  Napped daily?  Double check!  This was a delightfully lazy summer.  Thank you for that, Franny!  Mommy loves you already.

Nuggets of Matt Brilliance

Matt and I are not big dessert eaters.  Matt especially dislikes anything that's too sweet.  So even when I make a pie or a cake, we always end up throwing at least a quarter of it away.  The other day Matt was lamenting the mold that had grown on a Baltimore Peach Cake I made just days before.

Matt: It's totally impossible for two people to eat an entire cake.  Impossible.

Rachel: Well, it's not possible for us, but maybe for some---

Matt: Impossible!

Big News FAQ

In keeping with tradition established by my good friend, Rebecca, I'm going to answer several of the questions that Matt and I have gotten in recent days and weeks, re: our big news.

How far along are you?  As of tomorrow, the fetus will be roughly 15 weeks.  I'm roughly 31 years.  We're due February 7th (or thereabouts...due dates are just guesses anyway).

How are you feeling?  Much better, except when I brush my teeth.

Was this planned?  Despite how horribly inappropriate this question is, the short answer is "yes."  The long answer will come in a later post.

Are you going to find out the gender?  Only when we meet our little peanut in February.  In the meantime, we're referring to him as Francis/Frances.  Because of the obvious spelling/gender confusions, we usually just say "Franny."

Where will you deliver?  Despite my desire to deliver in the comfort of our own home, my midwife practice only delivers at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore.  This makes my man-of-science husband very happy, and I'm dealing with it.

Are you showing?  Right now, I look more like a corn-fed Midwestern girl who ate too much at the State Fair.  Hopefully Franny will pop in the next few weeks.

Are you craving anything?  Most days, I'd kill for some Starburst or a Clausen pickle--not simultaneously.  Otherwise, I'm fine with anything that doesn't contain roasted red peppers or cabbage, two pre-pregnancy favorites.

I think that's everything.  Did I forget anything?

Big news!