Hi, There!
This page is a work-in-progress, as I'm really just learning
HTML. If there's nothing much here, please check back in a little while. My resume is
currently offline as I am on sabbatical.
Pregnancy
update August 24, 2003 . . .
WOW. We had the first ultrasound yesterday,
and boy (or girl) did we get a surprise . . .we’Äôre having twins! At least now we know why I’Äôve been so
abysmally sick for the past 6 weeks.
Dan is still working on getting the pics scanned in, but here’Äôs the
info. We saw two babies, no
question about it. There is a
nice, thick membrane separating the two, but no idea yet whether we have
identical or fraternal twins in there.
We saw hands and feet on both babies, and well as nice, strong hearts
beating happily away inside both babies.
They are currently side by side, with baby Right being the more active
of the two (at least yesterday!).
Both are moving, however.
Baby L was just a little more content to wiggle a little or move when we
weren’Äôt looking. Baby R seemed to
enjoy hamming it up for us, dancing and flipping over and over. They both measure in at around 11.3
weeks, which puts my new EDD at 3/12/03.
We don’Äôt yet know the gender of either baby ’Äì it’Äôs still too soon to see
that sort of thing. They will try to
determine gender (assuming the babies cooperate!) at the ultrasound in October.
As great as this
news is, it also slides me into the high-risk pregnancy category, so Dan &
I are hoping that my hyper-emesis and asthma will be taken more seriously from
here on out. Hopefully, I will get
some IV fluids this week and get a referral to a new asthma specialist who
works with the hospital where I will be giving birth .
Masha Update
. . .
Masha thinks she’Äôs
capable of a lot more than she really is. Recently, she sprained her knee, and
just as it was beginning to heal, she tore off across the yard after a squirrel
that we, unfortunately, did not see. Needless to say, she tore the ligament and
needed surgery. Then, just as she was allowed to start going on short walks
again, she decided to surprise us (Masha,
no!) by jumping onto the bed for a piece of chewbone . . .
unfortunately, she hit the footboard, fell back down, and tore the ligament in
her other knee. So, it was back to the vet for more x-rays and another cruciate
surgery.
<masha-cast2>
Here she is,
looking miserable and pathetic in her first cast (the vet even decorated it!) .
. .
<new-cast2>
. . . and the
second one. The stitches on the
second knee come out in early September (no licking the stitches, Masha, or we
get the E-collar back out!). In the meantime, we’Äôve continued the P/T on her
right leg and have started up on her left leg. It will be about 6 months before she chases a squirrel again
. . . doctor’Äôs orders (sorry, little monster!).
Update:
August 1, 2002
Although I am on
sabbatical from teaching right now, I am in the process of finishing up my
coursework long distance. That
(and the MTEL exam) should enable me to get my initial certification in
Massachusetts. I’Äôve also been
filling my time by temping and by continuing work on the house. So far, I’Äôve gotten the kitchen/dining
room, Florida room, AV room, Dan’Äôs office, and the small bedroom essentially
finished. We’Äôve also had the
furnace replaced and new gutters and soffits installed outside (you wouldn’Äôt
believe what the old soffits were made of . . . ). We also had the ductwork cleaned. Now, we knew it was bad, based on what we found behind the
register while plastering the AV room, but the EnviroTech guys actually started
laughing when they opened up the ductwork in the basement. They said it looked like they had never
been cleaned before ’Äì not once!
They were halfway full of dust and dirt, and even some leftover
builder’Äôs debris. Obviously, we
noticed an immediate improvement in the airflow!
<dan’Äôs
office>
Dan’Äôs office is,
as I promised, his Maize-and-Blue dream.
Beautiful dark blue walls with a light, mellow yellow on the ceiling and
trim. I even got a few of his
favorite posters framed for him, plus his Arizona degree.
The kitchen &
dining room have a blue Venetian plaster on the walls ’Äì which I did myself,
thank you very much! ’Äì and a little wainscoting in the kitchen. I also replaced the horrid old linoleum
tile with nice new linoleum tile ’Äì ripped up the old subfloor, patched the real
subfloor, cut & laid the new subfloor, countersunk the screws, patched
again, sanded, spread the mastic & let it cure, then laid the tile. So there, Tim Allen (hunh, hunh,
hunh)! The AV room and this room
were the most work, given the flooring and the plaster work I did on the
walls. Here is a picture of the
dining room:
<dining-room1>
Although you can’Äôt
really see it in this picture, there’Äôs a fantastic brick fireplace on wall
opposite the bow window ’Äì one of the reasons we fell in love with this
house! We picked the color of the
trim to match the brick, and the drapes are a close match, too (that was a
lucky accident ’Äì we already had them!).
Now, however, it’Äôs
time to slow down on the improvements as we prepare for parenthood. That’Äôs right! It’Äôs time to put up the breakables and bumper-pad the sharp
corners. We already have the
baby-gates, thanks to Masha and her knee surgery (no stairs for 4 months!) So, in the next several months, I’Äôll be
preparing the living room and small bedroom for baby stuff. My parents will visit some time this
fall and my dad has offered to put newel-posts on the basement staircase to
make it safer and to install a proper vanity in the 2nd floor bath.
(Why would someone put a pedestal sink in a bathroom that serves three
bedrooms!?)
Among other things
that are going on ’Äì trivial, in comparison to the above, but still keeping my
mind occupied a bit ’Äì are the wait for Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix
(yes, my students got me hooked!) and the nearly-fever-pitch anticipation that
has built up over the 10-year wait (ahem, Mr. Gabriel, I think you need to join
Procrastinators Anonymous, already) for the new Peter Gabriel album. It is (apparently) due out September 24
with (apparently) a tour to follow over the holidays. (I think it’Äôs worth
pointing out, Mr. Gabriel, that while you’Äôve dilly-dallied along, Neil Peart of
Rush has had time to deal with the horror of losing his wife and only daughter
in the space of less than a year, pick his life back up, begin dating again,
fall in love and marry again, record a new album with Rush, and begin their
tour. (I know this, because Dan is a big Rush fan, and we’Äôve already seen them
this tour.) As a matter of fact, it took Peart considerably less than 10 years to do all of
that. And you can’Äôt get a measly 12 songs onto a piece of plastic? Just don’Äôt ever apply to be on Changing
Rooms.)
Actually, if you
haven’Äôt yet heard it, the first single off of Up, ’ÄúThe Barry Williams
Show,’Äù is pretty funky and has a nice, gritty, raw sound to it. Kind-of
reminiscent of some of his older work, I think, in that he takes on a
character’Äôs voice again (like Mozo and Moribund). It has nothing whatsoever to do with the Brady Bunch, though
apparently, the real Barry Williams has a cameo in the video (thank-you, Solsbury Hill). Geffen has the album version up here, if you’Äôd like to hear it.
Dan & I have
also recently discovered a fantastic show on BBC America, called Coupling. We’Äôve heard a rumor that NBC has bought rights and plans to
replace Friends
with it (after Friends . . . ends, of course), but we’Äôre pretty sure they’Äôll screw it
up. See, this show needs to be on
cable, kind-of like Sex in the City.
BBC
America runs it very late on Friday nights. Suffice to say, every episode we’Äôve seen so far has left us
laughing so hard at punchline A that we need to pause the show so we don’Äôt miss
punchline B. (We love our
TiVo!) Of course, we also enjoyed
the televised crack that was 24, and are looking forward to the next season (the
first hour is rumored to be commercial-free. Can you say Product Placement???).
Well, it’Äôs a little past midnight, so it’Äôs time to sign
off, here, and log onto comics.com to check
tomorrow’Äôs comics. Ain’Äôt the
internet cool? Goodnight!
Update:
August 6, 2001
Okay, okay . . . I
haven’Äôt exactly been on top of updating things. Suffice to say, it’Äôs been a year turned upside down and
inside out, then sling-shot across the continent. Yep -- we’Äôre back on the East Coast! Massachusetts, to be exact. Dan is still at Sun and I’Äôm knee-deep
in spackle and Venetian Plaster ’Äì homeowners, doncha know! We bought a large cape and are in the
process of making it our own.
Masha, who spent
the past 7 months with my parents, is back with us and adjusting nicely to her
expanded duties of guarding two floors plus a basement. She particularly enjoys
the settee in the Florida room, which affords her an excellent view of any
unsuspecting squirrels or rabbits (she just loves tearing across the yard after
them). We’Äôve already mapped out
her daily walk, and she’Äôs met some canine comrades, Jasper and Rusty (who live
across the street and next-door, respectively), as well as a springer spaniel named
Buster and a black lab, Molly.
Speaking of
parents, shortly after moving in, Dan’Äôs parents visited and helped us tear
through 4 rooms of wallpaper removal, rippety-split, and clear the conglomerate
of cardboard boxes from the living room. Then my parents arrived with Masha and
helped us install ceiling fans in 2 bedrooms and some window treatments.
Between the two visits, I managed to turn our newly de-wallpapered AV room from
a bare, stark, echoing box into a cozy retreat. I guess California had more of an influence on me than I
realized! The walls are rough plaster and the colors I chose have a definite
Southwestern flavor to them.
Here’Äôs a pic:
<av-room1>
I know, I know . . . the walls need a little art. We’Äôre going to put some small shelves
up to display some of our cool clay pots & bowls, and are in the process of
figuring out how to best display the didjeridu over the television. We also have a Casablanca print that
needs framing & placing, and we need to find a cool way to display our
giant Pulp Fiction Uma poster.
Update:
July 3, 2000
Speaking of
weddings, my sister Debbie is getting married this fall! She and her
fiance Barry love to scuba dive & always have stunning pictures to send me
from their vacations. They particularly enjoy shark dives (sorry, mom!).
Last summer I quit
my job and went back to school to earn my teaching credential.
Whew! I found a great position at Pioneer High School
in San Jose, California for spring 2000, and I'll be back there this
fall. I teach Freshman English and also hope to be a part of the AVID
program at Pioneer. Although I still have one class left at San Jose
State before I can apply for the preliminary credential, I finally feel like I'm
in the right pond.
Lessee . . . what else? . . . oh, yeah, I turned 30 just a
few days ago! And it's been about 8 years
since Peter Gabriel has released a new album. And I'm going on my first-ever business trip in about a week (San
Diego!). There's more . . . lots more, but it's 1:30 am and I'm getting
tired. <yawn>
The
Basics . . .
I was born in Pennsylvania,
but only lived there for a few months before my parents moved to
Charlottesville, VA where my dad earned his PhD in Physics from the University
of Virginia and my mom was a nurse at the University hospital. While in
Charlottesville, I scored a little sister, Debbie, and a little brother,
Daniel. Shortly after Daniel was born, we
relocated to Vienna, VA, which is just outside of Washington, DC. I grew up in
Vienna; it was pretty evident early-on that I had a literary bent: at nine, I
got in trouble for reading novels in class! I later attended James Madison High School,
where I did bookworm-y things like join the English Team, co-edit Heritage arts
magazine for a year, and work on my own poetry.
I graduated from
high school in 1988 and headed off to Saint
Francis College (in Loretto, PA), where I co-edited the arts magazine there
for two years and continued to develop my own writing. In 1990, I transferred
to George Mason University (in Fairfax, VA)
where I finished up my Bachelors in English. I hung around Virginia for several
more years, where I found myself working as a secretary and steadily increasing
my software skills. Shortly after moving out on my own, I got a dog:
<masha-smiling>
This is Masha
(nicknamed "the Monster" because of the destructive capability of her
Tail of Death and the strange similarity she bears to the Tasmanian Devil when
she's in the middle of one of her FRAPs); she's part black lab, part beagle,
very precocious, and pretty darn smart as dogs go. I've had her for 8 years
already, and it’Äôs hard to believe how active she still is.
In February of
1998, I moved to California, where my fiance, Dan, lived; we got married on
November 7, 1998. This is us on our wedding day.
