Adventures in France

A year ago, we were in France. I've been thinking about that trip all week - the food we liked (and hated), the times I laughed so hard tears were rolling down my face, the complete and utter boredom resulting from our tour in Reims... So I had to pull out the ole video montage I made of the trip.

In retrospect, this would have been a very different vacation had Chad already blown apart his ACL - which happened less than a week after we got home - or I was pregnant. I'd say we had perfect timing! ...And perfect weather...and perfect company...

What 25 weeks looks like

Five weeks ago I posted a photo featuring my little quasi-pregnant belly. Well now there's no disputing. As I was discussing with my friend Brigid, who is due just a few days before me, the good news in all of this is that now we really look like we're getting ready to have a kid, not just that we overindulged ourselves during a lunchtime pizza buffet. The bad news...well, there really isn't any bad news other than I am getting ready to send my pre-pregnancy clothes to the attic which makes me sad because some of my summer stuff that doesn't fit anymore is really cute!

So with 25 weeks down and 15 to go, here's what I look like now. Chad has felt the baby kick and punch and do Lord knows what else quite often. Though it's sometimes distracting, I like the constant reminders that Buster is still in there hanging out. He's an active little dude, just like his dad.

As for the pickles-and-ice-cream questions I keep getting, I really have zero cravings. Please just let me have endless supplies of fruit and water - and, umm...dessert. (Though, let's be honest, that is not a craving as much as the fact that because I'm pregnant I feel like I have a license to eat Ben & Jerry's whenever the mood strikes, thankyouverymuch.)

zzzzzzzzzz...

If I'm really good at anything, it's sleeping. Always has been. I wasn't even the kid who woke up early on Christmas.

But for the last few weeks, I haven't been able to sleep for more than a few hours at a time. Even when we were in our super-comfy bed at the Ritz. And it's irritating. (Granted, I realize this is a far cry from what some pregnant women have to deal with but please afford me this minor complaint.)

I've always been an equal-opportunity sleeper: my stomach, my back, a side...I don't discriminate. But of course I can't sleep on my stomach for the time being and apparently sleeping on your back during pregnancy isn't good either (something about cutting off circulation to the baby). Now, not only am I supposed to be sleeping on my side, I'm supposed to be sleeping on my left side. And who the heck wants to stay on their left side for an eight-hour stretch?

So I'm constantly tossing and turning - grabbing extra pillows, flailing around, trying to get comfortable, sitting up and stretching, and then trying this whole "sleep" thing again. (Let's just say Chad probably hasn't been sleeping very well either.)

The second trimester must be God's way of getting you used to the fact that you'll soon be unable to sleep for more than two or three hours at a time anyway.

The babymoon, Part II

We had an awesome time on vacation: family followed by work followed by Napa. Other than to say the weather was perfect (high 70's and sunny every day with no humidity), I'll just share these photos before getting back to the real world.

View from our room in Half Moon Bay (we sat at the outdoor fire pits at night - with blankets! - just listening to the ocean)

Chad enjoying lunch - and the view - at Sam's Chowder House

Totally undeveloped coastline we saw during our drive down the Pacific Coast Highway

At one of the scenic stopping points

Catching the sunset our last night on the coast

View from Sterling Vineyards in Napa

Surveying the landscape at Sterling - another gorgeous day!

The babymoon, Part I

When we told friends I was expecting, we heard the same question over and over again: "Are you going on a babymoon?" I don't think so, I'd usually say. (I didn't tell them that's because I had no idea what they were talking about.)

After a little bit of Googling, I figured it out. Apparently, a babymoon is the last trip a couple takes before becoming parents - or so say the savvy marketers who are trying to squeeze every last dime out of you before you become a homebody for the next two years.

When we planned our summer vacation, it wasn't meant to be a babymoon but, well, it's turned into one. The first leg was spent with my relatives in California. Lots of great food, a pedicure, massages, and some sight-seeing.

Buster even - kind of - went to his first Cubs game at Chad's second-favorite ballpark. (It was a great game, but the Cubs lost in the 9th. To a team with a catcher named Buster, no less...)

Last night we began the second leg of our journey - to Half Moon Bay, CA, about a half-hour south of San Francisco. This is my first time ever staying in a Ritz-Carlton and I have to say it lives up to the hype, even though I'm working. What's made it even more incredible is that some higher-up found out this is our last trip pre-kid and upgraded us to a suite with a fireplace, two bathrooms, an amazing view and the comfiest bed I may have ever slept in. I'm not sure if I'd ever fork over my own money for this place but I can't help but think that I must have done something pretty darned nice for someone along the way in order for this unexpected karma to stumble upon me.

This afternoon, Chad's out golfing and I just finished a 90-minute hike along the Coastal Trail. The five miles I wandered were filled with one breathtaking sight after another: crashing waves; crooked trees; pink, purple and orange flowers; and lots of tall grasses. At the halfway point, I sat at the top of one of the bluffs to take it all in. It was such an amazing trek I didn't even turn on my iPod - just listed to nature, had a good conversation with myself, and silently savored the fact that no one on this earth knew where I was at that very moment.

Man, life is good.

The bad news

...But first, the good news. Our backyard project was completed yesterday! I'll post photos of it in the next few days once we clear all the debris and random branches off the new patio.

Now on to yesterday's bad news.

Remember that tree in front of our house I wrote about last spring? The one with the gorgeous flowers and big, bushy summertime leaves?

Well, now it looks like this:

Yesterday afternoon we had one of those crazy summer storms that brought with it far too much wind and lightning. It caused a ridiculous amount of damage - seriously, look at those pictures! - along with a 12-hour power outage for us and most of our friends. The police officer who came by our house after I reported our tree (it was blocking the street) said this was much worse than anything that happened during last winter's storm.

Of course, it could have been so much worse. The tree didn't hit our house, anyone's cars (it came inches from our neighbor's convertible), or any of us.

Plus, it's on city property so it's their responsibility both to clean it up - which they did with chainsaws at 2 a.m. this morning - and tear the rest down. Still, I am going to mourn the loss of our little tree which gave us about as much shade as one could expect with a front yard the size of a postage stamp.

As I told Chad, now we have an amazing backyard and the front looks like a disaster area. Doesn't that just figure?

The great cake debate, Part II

This has been a fantastic week!

My second cake in the great cake debate arrived today from my buddy Godmund (ok, it was for the whole office but I did get a good-sized piece). A nice dense white cake with buttercream frosting layered with raspberry jam and blueberries.

Since it had fruit in it it, I figured was fair game for breakfast, so my piece is already gone.

The cake was so good, I am giving Godmund a pass that this is what it looked like when it arrived:

(See? Absolutely everything in this city - even cakes - is political.)

And, no, I will not announce a winner in my grand experiment. Both cakes were amazing. Besides, choosing a favorite might make one of them less inclined to bake in the future. I'm doing everyone a favor by remaining impartial!

Let them eat cake! ...for breakfast?

Last week, two of my colleagues (one current, one former) - who both happen to be men and amazing dessert masters - were mired in a political debate on Facebook.

Always the opportunist, I proposed a solution: "I'll settle this. Each of you bake me a cake and I'll pick the winner. Deal?"

It's amazing what people do for you when you're pregnant.

This morning I swung by my friend Robert's office building to pick up three huge pieces of red velvet cake (Chad's new favorite, so he gets one - and RT gets the other). I put it in the fridge, but I can still hear it calling my name from the other side of the office.

I'm pretty sure the real winner of this political discussion is...me.

The only question is, How early is too early to eat it?