Yum

If only my extra 300 calories per day could be ALL, ALL, ALL whipped cream!!!!!

That is all I have to say.

Seen, but not Spoken

Otherwise titled "Yes, we're alive"

Well, I'm pretty sure we've told everyone who reads this- but here is something we saw quite a while ago and kept to ourselves:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are two because I had brought a test, but NOT the instructions, when we went "home" for Christmas. So, when I took the test at about 3am New Years Day, I didn't know if it was positive or not. Hilarity ensued, culminating with some creative lies, a fruitless trip to 7-11 and a more productive trip to an actual grocery store, and a little bit of lateness for meeting our friends for brunch. During which we lied through our teeth (Sorry, A&D!)

"Morning Sickness" hit precisely upon walking into the airport for our trip home, and continued through the 10 or 12 week mark. In fact, I'm still not feeling great, to the amazement of casual acquaintances who assure me I'll feel better when I hit the second trimester. At 16 weeks, I'm not too convinced about that whole "super-woman second trimester" thing. But you never know, that could be just around the corner. In the meanwhile, I'm making the best of "super tired, but not throwing up."

Meanwhile, my 16-week-pregnant self and E are beyond thrilled that 1: spring has come to Small Town, Midwest, and 2: we are sharing it with our baby-to-be H. We are so, so excited, even if he (or she) is slowing me down a bit, leaving E to be doing approximately three times his fair share of dishes and laundry. And pretty much everything else.

Blizzard

In addition to the catch-up post below, here are some pictures of our blizzard today (actually, this is just a lot of snow- the blizzard is just getting started. I think it will mostly be a lot of wind blowing all this snow around so you can't see. We're still learning these new weather terms).

E is giving an exam and hopefully walking home for a late lunch. My school is closed and I have a cold, so I'm taking it easy here. The wind is picking up, and it's actually a little sunny!

So I've been delinquent...

The problem with blogging, is that if there is something interesting going on, you're too busy doing it to blog about it. And if you have time to blog, chances are you have nothing to say. The good thing about blogging, is, there aren't very many rules, especially if you have a guaranteed reader base (i.e., parents).

Here is an alphabetical (but not chronological or even comprehensive) update on happenings here in Small Town, Midwest:

A is for the Art Festival we went to on Main Street the other month. We live in a postcard.

Also, A is for Advent. We have a wreath and readings from Isaiah.

B is for Biology. Which is loved by one of us. Guess which one! Some people at the local community college might even be learning some.

C is for Christmas! We bought a $25 tree from Target, and we can’t wait for our long trip home. Being that we live in a postcard, it is getting very pretty around here.

D is for driving. We know how to get several places now, and it’s felt great to know where a few things are. We sometimes seem to spend a lot of time driving.

E is for eggplant. Remember that pizza from the other post? We had it again last night, when we had some people over for dinner. Still yummy.

F is for new friends. I think we’re up to three point five.

G is for green. Which is now gone from our landscape.

H is for hiking. We went with our new friends who have three kids four and under. We like them (and their parents, too). They are the winners of our church friends, because they only live 15 minutes away, in another little town, as opposed to in the “city,” forty minutes away. There were lots of trees and a river, and it reminded us of home.

H is also for Halloween- we had some of E's co-workers over for a little Halloween Party.

I is for incisive. That would be E’s students. In my case, I stands for present. That’s where my students are at. But, that makes them very rewarding to teach.

J is for the name of almost every person in our small group. It’s eerie. We break the mold. Who’s surprised?

K is for Keen. We both just got “matching” winter boots as our main Christmas present. They’re rated down to -30 degrees.

(the camera was fogged up because I just came in from outside!)

L is for bowling Lanes. We went to with another couple from church the day before Thanksgiving! They just moved here in June, so we considered ourselves the transplant bowling league for the evening.

M is for the Night of Christmas Magic. Oh, yes, it was magical. With elves, and cookie decorating, and cookie eating, and horse-drawn carriage rides. In the magical snow.

N is for New Moon, which I made E go and see with me when it came out. He was a good sport and now is owed one big favor.

O is for outside Christmas lights. It’s pretty cold when you put them up December 5^th! Now we know why everyone here puts them up the day before Thanksgiving. They are white, per E’s opinion. Our inside lights are colored, per R’s.

Phone calls from home are soooo phun! As was this awesome surprise package I got from K.

Q is for Q-tips. Which we are currently out of, and it’s a long way to T*arget.

R is for racquetball! We’ve been playing (each other, sadly for E) once a week at the college gym. Soon we’re supposed to play doubles with a student and his girlfriend! Hopefully I’ll be able to hit the ball by then!

S is for Sam Seaborne. We’ve been watching West Wing from the library, since it is cold and dark when we get home. We never saw it while it was actually aired.

T is for teaching, which we’ve been doing a lot of. E more than me!

U is for uphill, which is how E walks to work every day. Sometimes I give him a ride, but not today.

V is for visitors! We had our good friend K come visit over Labor Day, and my mom came out for a few days in November. A good time was had by all. Our guest room officially has a guest bed, so.... come on over!

W is the woodpecker I can see outside right now (which was several days ago, before our blizzard started.) At least, I think it’s a red-bellied woodpecker....

X is for xerox. I was babysitting our friend’s kids the other day, and the oldest asked what his box of paper said, and then how I knew. I said I knew because it was spelled x-e-r-o-x.

Y is for yogurt, which we still like to eat with granola for lunch. I’ve been experimenting with making my own granola- I think this last batch came out pretty good.

(that's the granola, in case you couldn't tell)

Z is for zero, which the forecast predicts we’ll be 2 degrees below tonight, with windchills down to -20.

Tuesday

I thought I would be bored only working three days a week, but it hasn't happened yet! In addition to taking on the lion's (lioness'?) share of administrative duties that come with a move (tags and title, internet and phone, finding a grocery store, gas station, date night activity- some duties are more fun than others!), I've been enjoying having some more time for a few home activities. Tuesday I did a lot of cooking, using up food we got from our CSA (community supported agriculture- aka "farm cult"), mostly to freeze. I hope all three of our readers enjoy this photo essay:

First of all, our home as it looked before we had dinner guests the other night:

I made potato soup with the potatoes from the CSA:

I listened to NPR podcasts while I washed and chopped. I ran out of chicken stock for the soup, so I ran across to the store to buy more. If you could see out the window behind my laptop, you could see the store! I almost left the stove and podcast on- but I didn't.

Mums on our front porch on my way out the door:

While the potato soup was cooking.....

.... I cut up peppers, onions, and garlic to be processes for chili later this week! Probably tomorrow.

Mmmmm, chili. I left one pepper to actually eat fresh (We had eaten one the night before, too). We had some lettuce this week, and the salads have been amazing.

Then I did some planning for school- yesterday we had a science demonstration and some other review activities.

(see the rug, Mom?)

And, our fish P got some fresh clean water.

Though not as fresh and clean as the water will be soon, when our fancy water filter arrives! Pierre sends his love to my sister, who transported him here to Small Town in style and safety.

One last picture of our house, 'cause I know the parents like that kind of thing:

Peace out, y'all!

A Flavor of Education

While not the family blogger, I’ve had a goal to guest post for quite some time. Starting a new job and working at least 12 hours a day might not seem like the ideal time to realize such a goal. But, that’s how life works: oddly. Being in a new place is exciting, scary, and interesting. While there are many funky oddities that characterize a small town (of which I’m sure I only know few at this time), this post concerns the essence of a small liberal arts college. There are many things that characterize such an institution, but I’d like to leave you with ten mind morsels. Each is a way to complete the following sentence starter: You know you’re at a small liberal arts college when…

10) Your first student shows up to the first meeting of your first course 40 minutes early.
9) Students actually read what you assign them (at least 80%).
8) At a free cookout you overhear a group of nearby students arguing about the specifics of a World War II event.
7) When a slightly disgruntled student comes to discuss their recent test grade with you, they are marginally interested in their specific grade and much more interested in your philosophy of grading and its relationship to true learning.
6) Students are accustomed to addressing their professors by their first names.
5) The buildings match.
4) Students participate in reading groups outside of their normal classes.
3) People you’ve never met know who you are (this does overlap with “You know you’re in a small town when…”)
2) In the governance structure of the college, there is actually a “Committee on Committees.”
1) In the men’s bathroom there is magnetic poetry on the urinal wall. Apparently it’s been there for years. Not only is it there, but it changes, almost daily. Here are a few recent samples:

“Can an obedient skeleton make phone calls?”
“Know, see change and remember.”
“An obedient skeleton can make you ache.”
“Climb on and howl.”
“Publish manuscript.”

Notes from the Western Front

A few notes and pictures of interest, at least to us:

Our New "House" (at least, as it looked when we moved it- we've added some flowers and furniture):

The view from my new commute (warning: this may make those of you in Big City want to move out here!):

Teaching three days a week = pure awesomeness

Leaving me time to make things like this eggplant pizza: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Eggplant-Pizza-102240

Pure deliciousness.

Speaking of pure awesomeness- The LIQUOR aisle at Target!!!!!:

The CSA where we get our veggies:

Fortunately, if surprisingly, there is some good food to be had of the restaurant variety also, in nearby Moderately-Sized City:

There is a lot more nature here, too. And by nature, I mean bugs. But there is some cool nature, too:

And, in case this point hasn't been driven home enough, it's very pretty here.

Damn relaxing, too =)