Baby Niece

I spent about 12 hours at the hospital today and got to watch this little baby come into the world! I've never seen the birth process before so I was a little nervous at first. But it was an incredible experience. Women are amazing. My sister-in-law is amazing.

Our little niece (name still under consideration...) was born at 9:45 am, about 12 hours after contractions started and 7 hours after the water broke. I didn't know it would take so long but I'm glad I got to be there for the whole thing. I got to see how the whole process goes from start to finish....there were two different nurses throughout the day and both were really nice. The doctor made it just in time!

Here's what I learned: Labor is really hard work. Epidurals are our friends. A good nurse is really important. And, there aren't many things more adorable and inspiring than a 5-minute-old baby!

Roadtrip to Relaxation

There is so much going on at home right now that we've been finding it hard to un-wind there lately. Don't you hate that? In the mean time, we are spending the weekend in Ventura reading, surfing, kayaking, sunbathing, watching movies, and just plain relaxing. No working, no chores, no home improvement projects, and no distractions......except for the dolphins and the butterfly I found today at the beach:



I was hoping the dolphins would be out and about while I was out there kayaking, but my luck wasn't that good. They were fun to watch from the shore, though.

Busy

I have had no motivation for blogging lately.

Have been playing hard and working hard....unfortunately, it's been mostly the latter.....

Spicy Vindaloo and Rogan Josh Too

I met up with an old friend and his coworker for dinner at the Hyderabad House while I was at some training for work in Palo Alto this week. Palo Alto reminded me of Salt Lake City - a little bit of turn-of-the-century architecture with a little more modern architecture. Lots of pedestrians and small mom-and-pop run businesses in the middle of a few franchises as well. I'd never been there before but I quickly became fond of the downtown area.

The Spicy Vindaloo almost burned my tongue off, but the Rogan Josh was delicious. We ordered both with lamb. The restaurant itself is kind of a small hole-in-the-wall without very much room, but the staff was nice and helpful with ordering since I wasn't quite sure what I should get.

It was nice sitting out on the sidewalk on a small patio table and just watching the evening pass by while we discussed religion, game-theory, the ethics of chimps in space, and double-entry accounting. I don't know if people really "vacation" in Palo Alto - there didn't seem to be much there to do there - but I can see why people like going to school there.

My New Church-y Husband

Ryan usually cringes at the gender discrimination, stereotypical holier-than-thou dogmatic attitude, and entitlement issues generally carried proudly on the sleeves of many religious congregations. For this reason, his spiritual side is fed more by the waves at San Onofre than the hard church pew in the back row of a chapel. Nonetheless, he is currently brimming with excitement and anticipation of attending sacrament meeting to support our friends and family here and here.

I'm not sure yet if I'm going to go with him. It wouldn't have ever crossed my mind to attend in the first place, but when he started reading the articles about the issue tonight he immediately wanted to go. But whether I go or not, I'm proud of him for not being afraid to stand up for a minority. It shouldn't surprise me since he's constantly standing up for my rights as a woman, is passionate about the environment, and hates to see people mistreated and over-looked.

June 29 Update

Sweat Equity

90% Ryan's Sweat, 10% Mine

If it's twice as hot as usual, so you sweat twice as much, does the value of the equity double as well?

baking queen

I turned this into ten mini-cakes last night. Yum.

The Great Stair Project

We're getting there...