Watch what you say.

Yesterday I was standing in the doorway to some friends' office, and a couple other friends were there, too. They all work in another analytical group downstairs from mine. One guy's wife is about 6 months pregnant with their 2nd, while another girl in there is about 3 months pregnant with her 1st. We had a conversation that went something like this:

Father-to-be: Oh Anne, [wife] had a dream last night that she went into labor, and that she called me here and was screaming at me to call you or [other friend] to go get [first child, now not quite 2].

Me: Haha, I was actually wondering what you were going to do with [first child] when [wife] went into labor. If you decide you want me to watch her that's fine with me, feel free to call whenever you need me.

Father-to-be: Ok, we'll have to see when family and stuff are coming to town, but [wife] doesn't really want them there until after, so we'll see.

Here we all have a general conversation about how the idea of having your parents, in-laws, siblings, grandparents, etc IN the delivery room is soooooo weird. And that the people who videotape deliveries are even weirder. Because really, who on earth would EVER want to watch that afterward?!

Father-to-be: I figure this time will be like the last time. She'll face that way [gesturing], I'll sit up by her head and face this way [gesturing], I'll just stroke her head or do whatever she tells me to do, but I'm NOT looking at the business end.

Mother-to-be: No kidding. I already told [husband] that he is NOT allowed to look.

Me: I totally agree. If I ever have kids I don't want my husband to see anything because I'd like him to want to have sex with me again someday.

Other grad student [looking over my shoulder into the hall]: Oh hi, [advisor].

I whipped around totally panicked and turned BRIGHT red, and was VERY thankful to discover that she was just messing with me and that their advisor (and my committee member) was not standing there.

I probably shouldn't make fun of my sister's gullibility anymore.

San Xavier

Sunday morning me, E, and J went down to San Xavier for Palm Sunday mass, knocking one item off my bucket list, which seems to be growing longer faster than it's getting shorter...

So I know I was partly there for touristy reasons, but I was absolutely appalled by the number of people who would just wander in to look at the church during mass! It didn't help that the interior of the church is really quite small, and was already full to standing-room only of people who actually wanted to attend mass. If you're going to a church strictly for sight-seeing purposes, why on earth would you go on a Sunday morning?? There were literally people streaming into the church during the recessional - like before mass is actually over and before people at the mass could leave. It was so strange. Stupid people. Yes, I wanted to see the mission itself, but we stood quietly in the back during mass (the whole mass), and then took a quick walk through the rest of the church after mass, being sure to get out well before the next mass started.

Anyways, the church is beautiful. The crisp whiteness of the outside seems a bit out of place in the barren, brown desert (though the mission does have a decent size farm with beautiful green fields!), but it's really pretty against the bright blue sky. And the intricate woodwork inside the church is really astounding.

(Jesus/Joseph? with his dollar bills cracks me up.)

Sangria

Man I have been craving sangria lately. Big time. Must make soon. Easter sangria maybe??


Not a great picture, but you get the idea. Me want sangria...

My favorite sangria recipes:

Classic Spanish Sangria (with spiced rum)
White Sangria (with Sprite rather than soda water)

Main Man

Sunday we went to Gettysburg, and when I mentioned to my sister beforehand that we might go, she freaked out.

Me: Oh, so I think we might go to Gettysburg while I'm in Pennsylvania.

Little Sister: What?! Annnnnnnnnnneeeeeeee nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!! I want to go to Gettysburg! Abe Lincoln's like my main man! I love that man!

When we got to the museum, the first thing we saw was this statue, and I knew I had to have this picture to send my sister:


Fortunately, the reaction I got to posting this photo on her Facebook wall did not disappoint.

Little Sister: Jealous! So jealous! Molly also said that she's jealous. ... We both have a thing for Lincoln.

Me: Haha I have epic things in mind for Christmas. I'm already excited.

Little Sister: Hahaha maybe more $5 bills with Lincoln's face taped to them? Oh wait...

Me: Hm, I hadn't thought about including $5 bills, but that's an idea...

(Sidenote: Last year for Christmas, she asked me for cash to help pay for her NKOTB/BSB ticket. I hate giving money. I think it's boring and impersonal, especially for someone like my sister where the possibilities for fun and ridiculousness are endless. So to give her what she wants but still have some fun, I printed out black and white images of all the members of NKOTB and BSB and taped them to individual $5 bills.)

20 minutes later...

Little Sister: Annnne. I just read O Captain My Captain and teared up a little bit. I love that man.

She cracks me up. It just never ends.

Anyways, the museum was really nice, and really well done, and seeing various sites of the battle were really crazy, especially the view from Little Round Top. If you're ever in the area it's definitely worth going.

Caledonia State Park, Pennsylvania

I miss spring.

It's something we barely have in Tucson. And even then it's a very weird, different spring from what I grew up with further east...ie not in the desert.

I spent the weekend in Pennsylvania. Much of the weekend was cloudy and somewhat cool for my desert-acclimated-self, and none of the trees had leaves yet, but man did it make me miss spring. The flowering trees were all in bloom, and the daffodils and crocuses were in bloom, and even some tulips, and the fields were all green and pretty, and water was bubbling along in one beautiful little stream after another. I miss spring, and seasons in general. The weather in Tucson is already teetering on summer.

Oh, and one lane, covered bridges are ridiculously cute.

Super epic clothesline!

P.S. I want a stream and a really cute little grass-covered bridge like this in my yard.

New Digs

*Sorry, apparently I accidentally published this post in a half-finished state a while back.

I know I haven't written much lately. I haven't had much to say, and I've been a bit preoccupied. But with two of my three faithful readers complaining about lack of material, here's an update.

When K8 left Tucson for an awesome new job in Portland, and our house being sold, it was time to move. So at the end of March Jen and I moved a whopping half block down the street, into one unit of a duplex. It's definitely a downgrade in quality and amenities, but we managed to stay in the same neighborhood (which we both wanted), and it's cheap enough that should Jen decide to leave Tucson before I graduate, I can afford it on my own and won't be forced into moving AGAIN. Huge bonus. I REALLY don't want to move again until it's time to leave Tucson.

Because I'm sure you're dying to see the new place, here it is:

And here's a virtual tour, starting with the most important room in the house, the kitchen.

View into the kitchen from the living room:

The baking area - yes, I have dedicated this entire portion of the kitchen to baking. All the baking stuff (plus a few other odds n ends...) live in these drawers & cupboards:

The rest of the kitchen - I'd really like to somehow get a table or other flat surface to the left of the existing countertop above the shelves with our food. That corner is just such wasted space begging to be better used.

The top two shelves in the cupboards are so high that I literally have to stand on the countertop to reach the stuff up there.

Perhaps the coolest feature of the kitchen? The exit sign by the door.

This kitchen was by far the best of the places we looked at - the most storage space, counter space, and light. What it still needs is some color. Big time. And there's a giant empty patch of wall above the kitchen table crying for something to be hung there. I'm working on it.

The living room. I stood in the doorway to the hall to take this, the kitchen is to the right and the front door is to the left. I think the giant mirror that we, um, obtained from the house before last, and painted up super classy, looks lovely above the mantel. :)
My mostly finished bedroom. Waiting on a short curtain rod and another curtain to arrive. I took this from the doorway to the hall - the closet is to the left and my dresser and a door to the front porch are to the right.
This house has all the conveniences of modern life. No, I don't mean handy things such as a dishwasher, garbage disposal, or laundry. I mean features like this old school lock in the bathroom.

There's a (very) small back yard:
With some awesome artwork. "My legs are long, my teeth are loose, but I am a very handsome moose!"