AlternaTickers - Cool, free Web tickers
AlternaTickers - Cool, free Web tickers

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Non-Photo Friday: I is for IUI

What else could I be for? But no. We're not taking a picture.

We're at 2 dpo and we're both feeling hopeful. Last time around we felt pretty negative from the beginning, but this time we both feel we could be in the game.

I have a list of reasons, which I am far too superstitious to post now, but will reveal once we know one way or the other.

It's good to be hopeful. But the TWW is torturous.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Belated Photo Friday: H is for Holiday

Here's some photo evidence of holiday cheer around the O household.

Tree 2006
Tree 2006. It's not a real tree (Co is allergic) but doesn't it look great? This Jew can't tell the difference! And Co even indulges me with my Tree-In-A-Can, a candle that smells like real spruce. Mmmmm.... In this picture you can see the stockings hanging on the bedroom door, and if you look closely, a few of the South Park ornaments. Heh heh.

Though we will be a Jewish family, Co's culture includes this celebration, and I enjoy being a part of it. Who wouldn't want an evergreen full of lights at this time of year?

Holiday Lights
We live across the street from a park, and this year the two columns at its entrance are decorated with these festive blue lights.

Holiday Hound
And of course, the Holiday Hound. Oh, Mom, not the ears again!!

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Six Weird Things About Lo

I've never been tagged in the blogosphere before, so I offer Brooke my greatest thanks for making me feel like one of the cool kids. I give you 6 weird things about Lo (with a little help from my wife, who kept insisting, "But you're not weird." Yeah, right).

1) I like to read several books at a time. Often I have a novel, a work of non-fiction, and a young adult novel (my excuse is that I teach 7th grade; the truth is that I never stopped reading kids' books) going at the same time. I like the variety. As a kid I used to make stacks of up to six books and read a chapter at a time.

2) I can play any song I hear (on the flute or recorder, my instruments of choice). This might be my early Suzuki piano training. I was taught to play piano, at age seven, only by ear. I was never taught to read music, which frustrated me to no end so I taught myself how to read the treble clef so I could play through my mom's Rodgers and Hammerstein and Song Fest on my own. My dad says his mom, who was a piano teacher, had perfect pitch (which I do not have!). I am no great musician, but I enjoy playing.

3) I hate carbonated beverages. They do not quench my thirst. (Co says I am the only Jew on earth who does not like seltzer.) This also means I don't really like soda. When I was in Europe -- and this was over ten years ago so things may well have changed -- it was very very hard to find non-carbonated water. I learned to say non-carbonated in Polish. (Niegazowana, in case you're interested.)

4) I prefer dogs that are short and long. You've all seen the famous Maggie Mae (and a lucky few have met the beast!) and I grew up with a Welsh corgi. We got the corgi because I fell in love with my grandparents' corgi. I will have to post both corgis' pix at some point...I do love oddly-proportioned canines.

5) I am a Luddite. I do not own an mp3 player of any kind and I don't even use my computer to listen to music (when we burn CDs we use Co's). I own a record player and a used amplifier my dad got me because I prefer to feel the weight of the radio tuner as I turn it. I hate the digital kind. (I'm going to have to fold because it's not working so well, but I'm dragging my heels.) We do have a DVD player, a gift from my mom, but I maintain that both VHS and audiocassette are much more practical media. You can't continue to add material to CDs or DVDs. I far, far prefer editing tape (I've worked in radio) by hand than by computer. It's just so much less....tactile. I'm not convinced that progress is always for the best.

6) I am always hot. I have been known to go outside in a T-shirt in 30 degree weather. My dad tells a story of me going swimming on Cape Cod in December. This leads to some arguments with Co -- who is always cold -- about opening the windows. Since we live in an overheated city apartment, I don't put the T-shirts away all year round.

I tag anyone who wishes to reveal six weird things! And you'll get to hear Co's weird things eventually too, since she's been tagged, too. :-)