avablog

I think I’ll only post here every three days now. Leah gave me a lot of hassle the other day for never posting to anonymark, which in her mind equals hating our unborn baby. As I like to say, “w/e.” We had a pretty nice weekend. Lots and lots and lots of romance on Saturday, […]

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Ava became obsessed with Jell-O recently. I don’t even recall how it started, though I’m sure Leah will enlighten us. Must’ve been in a magazine, or something. Anyway, Leah finally relented to Ava’s constant whining and let her make some the other day. Ava wanted to cut the Jell-O into hearts, so we cut the […]

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Come on, now, Nathan. Really? I can’t believe there are that many Pepsi drinkers reading your blog. Or maybe they just like to enter contests? I guess this post is worth five entries, eh? 😉 Go Steelers!

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I know, right? “It’s about time.” I hear you. Seems like I should provide some sort of synopsis, even though most of you have heard the best tidbits by now. The big news, of course, is that Rachel and Kevin were robbed. Actually, their room was broken into, and the thieves made off with Kevin’s […]

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As I was getting ready for work this morning, I had a moment’s pause when I thought it was only Sunday. Is it possible the weekend passed so quickly? Bah. We had fun celebrating my mom’s birthday, which included a couple dinners and sledding yesterday at a nearby elementary school. I debated whether to take […]

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There’s a Mexican breakfast dish called huevos divorciados that is so f*#king tasty, it almost makes you want to get divorced just so you can remarry and then get divorced again. Pictures on the way….

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It’s interesting that one of the main problems people have with breastfeeding is that some folks do it for too long. As my readers know, I start to feel a little weird about the endeavor once the child is old enough to verbalize her hunger. But what’s the big deal? I mean, if no one’s […]

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Grandma Georgie makes a mean sugar cookie. But as good as they are, it’s still tough to compete with a bowl full of frosting.

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We finally got to the Bluebird Diner this morning with Grandma Georgie, who’s in town to take us to The Nutcracker this afternoon. It was good. The servers are still becoming familiar with the menu, which is no surprise, as it’s fairly extensive. We arrived at 8:40 and pretty much had our choice of seats, […]

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Ava’s off with Gramary today, and they’re getting into all kinds of mischief. This morning, they made my mom’s famous candy mouse decorations. Ava was so proud of them that she had to give them a kiss.

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I’m a big fan of grapes. I love grapes. All of them. I even like grapes with seeds. But my mother turned us on to these Asian pears recently, and they are fantastic. Even Ava loves them. For the uninitiated, the experience of eating an Asian pear is like biting into the crispest, juiciest apple […]

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We had Ava’s four-year checkup today at the doctor’s office. It included four different injections, a finger prick for a blood test, and an anti-flu nasal spray. Many tears were shed, but she actually did a pretty good job. Leah hit her with a sucker as soon as the last shot was done, and the […]

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No new politics posts this week, at least not from me. Besides, it sounds like it’s going to be a while before we hear anything new and/or interesting from Gov. Palin. Quick restaurant tip for anyone heading to Des Moines: Eat at Sage (dumb site has sound, so adjust accordingly before clicking).

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Our friend Andy contacted us this evening to ask if we’d like to join him for dinner at Augusta, an eatery in nearby Oxford we’ve heard a lot about but haven’t tried. It was short notice, so we had to take Ava along. It wasn’t a relaxing meal, but it was good. What’s more, we […]

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Gramary and Uncle Scott took Ava to a festival at the local Catholic high school (education center; it’s more than just a high school) over the weekend. They were also joined by Scott’s friend Valerie and her daughter. A couple choice pics (not taken by me): and… Ava carries on her great grandmother’s fondness for […]

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Leah, Ava, and I were joined by my dad yesterday for a trip down to Mt. Pleasant to visit the Old Threshers Reunion. It was a perfect day for it. Ava was like Templeton the rat from Charlotte’s Web, running around from food stand to food stand, eating everything she could get her hands on. […]

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That is all.

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Something tells me I’d be sleeping in the guest room this evening even if I were home. Dinner was a small, deep dish, anchovy, fresh garlic, and spinach pizza at Giordano’s. Whew. Oh, and the garlic bread appetizer. Why not? I never get to indulge in garlic at home, and Chicago is not a town […]

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I love my per diem. After class today, I hustled a couple blocks and sat down to a really nice dinner at The Parthenon, “in the heart of Greektown.” Man, was it good. I had a fried zucchini appetizer (insanely good), then braised lamb with spinach rice (accompanied be a nice glass of the dry […]

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There aren’t words enough to describe how much I like The Crooked Spoon Cafe in downtown Grand Marais. Leah and I ate there last year; you might recall I had the blue crab cakes and jicama slaw.

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