Ahoy, mates!

So, do tell:

Where’s the best place to live in Seattle? Which are the best schools (public or private (for the children under 18))? Is it really so very rainy or is that just an urban legend?

I have reason to believe this may be in my (relatively) distant future:

http://depts.washington.edu/bioe/programs/phd/phd.html

Kuiper Sophie Smith was born on 1/13 weighing 7 lbs. 4 oz. and standing 20 inches tall. She’s perfect and we’re all on a babymoon.

And for inquiring minds and their wanting to know…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuiper_belt

We have been blessed by a series of surprise visitors: ants. The LITTLE kind, thank God, the tiny kind that look like crawling specks. They were initially congregating around Hobbes’ food bowl and in the kitchen, ok, I understand that…but now they’re crawling around the shower–clearly no food in the shower. They infested a house plant (why?!) and started ganging up in the spare bedroom. Last week I doused them with vineger…which they hated and fled screaming. But as soon as the vinegar dried up they quickly regrouped. We tried ant traps–the kind where they eat poison and then go home and spread it around like an std. They are so little they couldn’t even get up the lip of the trap and into where the yummy poison was.

We sucked it up and bought the awesomely effective RAID. However, it makes me feel sick to my stomach–even though the manufacturers were kind enough to give it a sweet smell. The RAID works…sort of. After a few days it goes away and they show up again. We also discovered that the ants are coming through the floor boards…this sucks. It means they are hanging out in the huge crawl space under our house and breaking and entering through the cracks. So, we’ve sprayed their entrances and opened up windows to ventilate the poison. Josh bought a bug bomb with the intent of sticking it under the house. However, it would mean both man and cat would have to evacuate for four hours. We might put Hobbes upstairs with food and litter box and bomb under the house while we’re away at work. Or we could just wait it out…continuing to kill them with RAIS, vacuuming them up alive, and cursing every time we see a group of them. Advice?

Well, I am finally feeling up to posting.

As you may or may not know, Greg and I are expecting. A baby. And to win the lottery, because, like the man says, you can’t win if you don’t play. Anyhow, some background: we decided we wanted more children about six months ago and when I went in for a pre-conception visit, I was sidelined by the whole “having cancer” thing. Well, six weeks after my successful treatment, my OB gave me clearance for take-off and I immediately got pregnant. I also knew immediately because — and I am not kidding here — I started having pregnancy symptoms TWO DAYS after conception. And, unlike my prior pregnancies, I have symtoms of every stripe — sick sick sick, sore and growing boobies, being worn out from taking naps, emotional to the point of absurdity, and others that I’m sure I’ve now acclimated to and hardly notice.

I am, as of today, five weeks pregnant. I go in for my first appointment with my OB on May 22nd, the day before I leave for an extended holiday. I feel compelled to tell you about my OB: I love him. And I don’t mean like, “I respect his work,” or “he is highly competent and has a wonderful bedside manner.” I mean, like love love. He makes me have cartoon hearts in my eyes. His name is Tommy and he is a personal friend of mine (I interned for him when I was in school and thought I wanted to be a doctor. Kids, huh?) I think Greg may love him, too, because, when he came back into the recovery area after I had my surgery, he hugged Tommy and said, “Thank you for taking care of her. You’re my hero.” And I’m pretty sure I saw cartoon hearts in his eyes, too.

Here’s some other interesting bits:

We have already picked out names for girls and boys.

Girls: 1st place: Xiaolin

2nd place: Ella

Boys: 1st place: Finn

2nd place: Carroll

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I will be delivering at this hospital and this will be my room. I will opt for the suite if it is available because I am a hedonist and none of my pleasures are guilty.

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My due date (per my last period) is January 11, 2008. The ultrasound I will have on the 22nd will either confirm this date or set a new one based on the fetal development.

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We’ve told all of our friends and family and everyone is positively giddy.

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It is momentous, friends, making a child with a person that you adore.

Yours In Puke,
Mel

Friends! Lycanthropes! Misfits! Children of God! I come bearing good tidings of good things that are good!

My surgery went okay — thanks for asking, K. The path report came back and they got all of the cancer. The pharmacist at my local Walgreens, upon filling a prescription for me, said, “Wow! Congrats! You’re a cancer survivor!” I told her that we prefer to be referred to as “cancer victims” and not “survivors” but I think my humor noir was lost on her. She’s just a pharmacist! Sheesh! It would be asking too much of any person to count pills all day and have a keen eye for jokes made in poor taste. Be reasonable.

Anyhow, the procedure itself was only minorly painful (ed note: I do have a freakishly high tolerance to physical pain so your mileage may very vary.) The worst part of the whole thing was that I was prohibited from doing the s-e-x word (at least in my baby cave) for three weeks post-op. This pretty much guarantees that I’ve grown a new freshness seal (hymen, in some circles.)

Anyhow, about that three weeks? If you were keeping track, you would know that it ends tonight.

So. See ya!

(p.s. just foolin’ about the YouTube tag)

Last week I had the pleasure of seeing “Of Montreal” here in Lawrence. It was a school night and I was very tired, but I still thought they were awesome. I had no trouble staying awake. If, however, the lead singer Kevin Barnes had decided to sing the way he sang in Vegas, I would definitely have had my eyes wide open!

Pitchfork article about the Vegas show – NSFW because he’s NEKKID!!

And I guess that other people must have thought that show was eye-popping, too, because Pitchfork followed up with a “Why did you do it?” piece in which Barnes explains that he did it for world peace.

If you have the opportunity to see them, go for the music! (…but bring a camera).

Elekibass, a quirky Japanese band, opened for them here and the audience adored them – cute and happy.

P.S. In other music news, try to catch Wayne Coyne on NPR on Monday AM – he’s going to be talking as part of the “This I Believe” series.