Bloggogriff

Which means Guppy could easily arrive anytime between 2 weeks (let's hope not, I don't quit work for another 2 weeks) and 6 weeks from now. This has been a big week for baby stuff. Eric's lab held a shower for us on Monday, where we got our super-awesomely-wonderful glider and a few other things. On Friday, there was a surprise shower for me at school, with the star gift being a wildly tricked-out Kelty backpack carrier (comes with: detachable rain/sun shield, zip-in daypack/diaper bag, about twenty pockets, a rear-view mirror, and more adjustable padded straps than I can figure out what to do with). Then today we went to Target and got the rest of the things that we figure we need (regular diaper bag, mattress pad for crib, night light, etc., plus Eric really wanted a Baby Bjorn so now we have one of every baby-transporting device known to mankind - a sling, a Bjorn, a backpacker AND a stroller). So...we think we're basically done. We're going to install the car se...

I almost forgot to say "Happy Easter" to everyone! Katie and I made Easter eggs last night and now they are sitting on the counter looking very fey and fetching. When I was a kid, we had to keep the eggs in the fridge and eat them all. After a week, I would be completely sick of hard boiled eggs. Now I take an excessive amount of pleasure in arranging the eggs for display, leaving them out for a week or so where I can look at them, and then wastefully throwing them away.

For all impractical purposes, I stopped doing math at age 18. I say "impractical" because there are, of course, still a few very basic and practical uses for math in my life. These include: Calculating tips Doubling or halving a recipe Making sure my grading percentages (tests = 40%, homework = 20%, etc) add up to 100 That's about all I can think of right now. On Friday, Eric and his sister and I went to Golden Gate Park and spent a lovely afternoon dozing on the grass in the sun. At some point when I was a bit more conscious than previously, I started idly thinking about math. More specifically I started trying to figure out an easy way to figure out the sequence of perfect squares in my head (double digit multiplication, say 17 x 24, has never been easy for me to do without a pencil and paper). So, for instance, how do I get from 15 x 15 (which I knew was 225) to 16 x 16 (which I couldn't recall off the top of my head)? And, in my sleepy state, I worked out that I...

One of the greatest, but most dangerous parts of switching from MySpace to Blogger is that I can now post from work. The school network blocks MySpace, Facebook, and most of the other big social networks, but since Blogger is the standard choice for anyone putting up a school-related blog, I am free to fritter away my time here as I see fit. Hence all the new page elements that have appeared in the last few days. This week is only three days long and then we get five days for Easter. Gotta love Catholic school.

I now request a moment of silence for my parents' cat Tizzy, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 16 due to lung cancer (although as far as we know, she was a non-smoker). She was a very sweet gray tabby and will be much missed by the family.

Our little apartment is quickly filling up with baby stuff. In the past week, the mail has brought a bathtub and nursing pillow (both from Pat, along with the fifth [yes, you read that right] care package full of outfits and toys she has sent us since Christmas), a car seat (from Bill) and the crib set* (from my parents). The people at the housing office don't even ask to see my ID half the time now when I go to pick up the packages because most of them recognize me on sight. People are still telling me that I don't look very big for how far along I am, but apparently it's just an optical illusion due to my height. Yesterday I had my checkup and I'm now measuring on the large end of normal (34 cm at 31 w. 6 d., if anyone cares). The midwife suggested that if I continue to grow at this rate they'll probably want to do an ultrasound to check on Guppy's size next month. Looks like the kid could turn out to be a bruiser! *Yes, moms, I know a coordinated crib set is ...