avablog

Well, I “found” my birthday present this afternoon, after some nudging and coaching from Mark, and boy, was it lovely. 🙂 My friend CM is going to have to tell her husband to get on the ball; she’ll be “green” with envy after seeing the delicious, delightful green purse that Mark got me from Banana […]

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With everything else going on, and most of it negative and/or very sad, it seems like a good opportunity to mention that February is the month in which Leah was born, many, many years ago. To look at her, you’d never guess how many years she has under her belt (unless you got a look […]

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If I have to read about one more celebrity pregnancy, I am going to lose it. Up yours, Gwen Stefani–you 38-year-old, ab-obsessed hussy. Up yours, Angelina Jolie–you cheating homewrecker, posing as a saint. Up yours, Brooke Burke–pushing out your fourth damn kid from that bikini-worthy body at age 36! *sigh* Bitter much, Leah? Why, yes, […]

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This image caught my eye this morning as I looked at the front page of the Wall Street Journal: It linked to a story about how successful women are models for how to dress in the business world. Whatever. What struck me was that each of these women has the same leg crossed. Not being […]

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No, wait. She’s hot. No she’s cold. Now she’s hot again. We’re having a bit of a time getting used to radiant heat in this, our first winter in the new house. We also have a programmable thermostat, which is something we never had. But we’re learning what works. One disappointment for me has been […]

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Any way you serve ’em up, the end result is still the same: I’ve got some damn old eggs. Yes, that’s right, the result of our UIHC infertility appointment today revealed that we have “unexplained infertility” due to the age of my eggs. At this point, we only have a two-percent chance of getting pregnant […]

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I feel like I need to conclude the story of our vacation departure, since the last y’all heard was that we were heading to the Eastern Iowa Airport for our 6 p.m. flight. Well, the drive to C.R. was completely free of fog…until a mile from the exit to the airport, at which point we […]

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CID was socked in this morning with fog, so we’re going to try again this evening. United only has two flights a day from Chicago to Cancun, and the latest is at 10:15 a.m., so there’s no way we would’ve made it. We’re just hoping there’s no fog in Chicago tomorrow morning for the flight […]

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We caucused for Johnny Edwards last night, and lost. I was actually for Obama, but Leah convinced me to stick with her to help with her liveblogging for Momocrats (DISCLAIMER: I don’t get anything for linking to them, and neither does Leah). It was a fun night. My neighbors are so wacky. At one point, […]

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My wife is a social animal. Since the vast majority of those reading these words know her personally, this doesn’t come as a surprising observation. But Leah’s social nature manifests itself in some interesting ways. Like online shopping. Here’s how most of us shop online: Do a search for an item. Locate item. Click a […]

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We’re under a week away from our trip to Mexico. You know, I’d travel a lot more if I could use a transporter. Just disappear from one place and appear in another place in a snap of the fingers. But this flying stuff is for the birds, and only the birds. I’m still determined to […]

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Wednesday, December 12, 2007 AP ERIE, Pa. — An Erie woman has been sentenced to five to 10 years in prison for swinging her 4-week-old son at her boyfriend and striking him with the boy. Twenty-eight-year-old Chytoria Graham was convicted in October of aggravated assault and other charges. Graham says she missed her children as […]

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Disembodied hands to keep infant feeling secure From BoingBoing: Behold he Zaky Infact Pillow. “Zaky — It’s Like Leaving a Part of You with Your Baby.” It’s ‘s $38.95 at the Pregnancy Store. The Zaky is also great when you have to leave your baby with someone else — at your baby’s daycare facility, when […]

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Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am overly anxious. I worry too much. I fret. I obsess. I indulge endless neuroses. Every once in awhile, though, I experience an epiphany of sorts–a moment of pure, bright joy–that reminds me of how little in life is actually worth all the damn blood, sweat, […]

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These last couple days have been mentally busy and tiring. We’ll get the results today of our latest semen analysis, which I’m not optimistic about (don’t ask me why). But it is what it is. Last evening, I drove down to Mount Pleasant with three colleagues to watch another of our coworkers in a play […]

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My dear friend and college roommate died this morning. Her name was Melinda, and she was 36. She had inflammatory breast cancer, and she fought so hard. Ironically, she was an oncologist in Chicago. She also was a brilliant woman and a loving friend. I would like people to know about her. I would like […]

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I’m not sure if this information will discourage my wife or make her feel vindicated. Or both. An increasing number of brands manufacture in China. Those luxury handbags women crave? Mostly now invariably made in China, though manufacturers sign strict confidentiality agreements with the brands never to reveal this fact. Several Guangdong factories make bags […]

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We just got back from dinner at India Cafe (excellent stuff), and Ava’s on her way off to dreamland, with Aunt Rachel’s patient assistance. It was a windy trip, but the forecast calls for beautiful weather tomorrow, so we’re looking forward to that. On our stop through Dubuque to visit the museum late morning, we […]

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So I may have mentioned we’re going to Mexico at the end of the year. Leah’s parents are generously footing the bill. I haven’t given the trip much thought (the day-to-day mental challenges of raising a kid have a way of blocking out everything else), but I decided today that I’m going to try to […]

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I accompanied Leah to an Ob/Gyn appointment yesterday to see if her doctor had any words of advice about getting pregnant (aside: As I was writing that sentence, I first wrote appt. instead of appointment. I wonder why we bother to write out that word anymore. Is there anyone who doesn’t know what appt. is […]

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