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July 31, 2007
Pouch sling
Thanks to Jeannette's comments and advice, Jan Andrea's instructions for a pouch/tube sling, and the great advice about choosing fabrics at mamatoto, I made my first baby sling!
I found some $1.00 a yard, 100% cotton fabric to start with, so I wouldn't feel bad if I messed it up. There were some irregularities in the color, but it was a sturdy but breathable fabric.
It took me awhile to make it, I'm an indifferent seamstress at best. And I had trouble finding my hip under all the babies (haha), so I measured the wrap a little short. I don't think it would work well for a squirmy toddler. But it seems like it would be great for a cradle hold or for nursing, especially when the babies are wee.
I'd like to make another one, a bit longer, maybe in a coordinating print, so that Tim and I will each have one. Or maybe I'll even experiment with double-slinging them!
And now that I have the hang of it, slings seem like such a nice baby shower present!
Posted by Tim and Jo at 2:29 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
July 27, 2007
In tandem with "cute" DUI schools...
...our city has a plethora of "cute" bail bond stores.
You can call "Bond, James Bond" for fast, easy, cheap bail bonds.
Or you can call "007 Bond" (I'm not kidding here!) and get a student discount.
A student discount. For bail bonds.
Ummm....this is disturbing on several counts. Obviously, to offer a discount for that, there must be a strong market for students who need bail bonds. But beyond that what's the message being sent in making bail bonds a student perk?!?
Between the cute DUI schools and the cute bail bond stores, the slap on the wrist you were getting for endangering other people's lives through your own reckless behavior almost becomes a pat on the back. Sure, crime doesn't pay, but pay a little less with us!*
*offer only valid with a current student ID
Posted by Tim and Jo at 9:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 20, 2007
fearfully and wonderfully made
78% of you guessed correctly. :-) We're having a boy and a girl!*
We're thrilled to death, both of us were hoping for one of each. And I was even more happy to see that they both were really healthy.
Tim was there with me for the ultrasound, and it was really great to have him there. I think it made it more real for both of us to see them, and to know a little more about who they are.
It was fun, too, to see exactly how they were positioned. Last night as the little boy started to wail on me, I was able to show Tim where to put his hand, and he really could feel the movements (he's felt little flutters before, but nothing this pronounced).
So incredibly happy!!!
*and there wasn't any ambiguity on which was which!
More below--pictures and details!
Continue reading "fearfully and wonderfully made"
Posted by Tim and Jo at 6:16 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
Our babies are...
...very cooperative! The ultrasound went really well yesterday!!
We still have a few family members/close friends to tell, and then we'll make the announcement. And hopefully post a few pictures!
They're both big and healthy (they're a good size for their age, according to the books I've been reading, even for a singleton pregnancy), quite active, with strong heartbeats. And positioned in such a funky way that it's no wonder I've been feeling rather uncomfortable the past few days.
Posted by Tim and Jo at 12:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 17, 2007
Baby poll
If they cooperate, we'll find out on Thursday!!
Any guesses?
Posted by Tim and Jo at 2:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 11, 2007
Library humor
Okay, so I still can't get used to "pimp" being a part of normal conversation, but this blog post is pretty darn funny-- Pimp My Bookcart
Elaborate and geeky! We're both big fans of the hippie "Support Glitteracy" entry, though I also have a fondness for Mater (in the honorable mentions).
Posted by Tim and Jo at 11:04 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 10, 2007
Heightened pregnancy olfactories...
...are not a blessing when you have to drive past an experimental poultry laboratory to get to school/Tim's work.
Phew-wee, those chickens stink!
Posted by Tim and Jo at 8:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 9, 2007
Why pregnancy and dissertating don't mix
As I was typing books into an annotated bibliography, I looked down at "Changing Tunes: The Use of Pre-existing Music in Film," and read "Changing Twins: The Use of Pre-existing Music in Film."
Posted by Tim and Jo at 1:56 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 6, 2007
Paris, je t'aime (for Funke)
J'aime "Paris, je t'aime"!* It's extremely imaginative, like Amelie. Tim described it as the cinematic equivalent of poetry--a dozen or so five minute films by different directors that capture a whole world with brevity. Each film is by a different director, and takes place in a different arrondissement or neighborhood in Paris. Wikipedia has a neat entry on Paris, je t'aime listing each of the shorts films by their arrondissement.
Some of the films are surreal and amusing ludicrous (one involving a family of mimes), other ones are incredibly poignant (what happens when a man about to leave his wife discovers she has cancer).
My favorite was one where an American mail-carrier retells her first experience in Paris, with a truly wretched French accent. But as she talks on, her account of how Paris changed her world becomes more and more moving almost because of her ordinariness and the halting language she uses to tell her story.
So, go see it if you can, Funke! I'd love to hear what you think!!
*I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, though, one of the stories focuses on drug use, and there is some implied sexuality in a couple of others (oh, those french!).
Posted by Tim and Jo at 11:20 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Athens culture: A-F
It's been about a month now, and we're starting to find our way around Athens. Much of the time I'm assessing it in light of Pittsburgh experiences, probably not fair considering how much I'm still in love with Pittsburgh.
Anyway, here's a bit about our Athens experience so far...
*Books: at first we couldn't find a single used book store in Athens. I was going nuts, wondering what kind of college town wouldn't have a smattering of cool bookstores (maybe look at the paragraph above for what students are doing with their time...)? But finally we drove by a quirky little hole-in-the-wall that I'm looking forward to exploring.
And the public library, well, I got spoiled by the Carnegie-endowed library system of Pittsburgh, where I could do as much research in the public library (sometimes more!) than I could at Pitt. From a quick perusal, it looks as though most of the books in the local library were obtained in the 1970s. However, the UGA library is quite nice, and I now have a card.
*DUI schools: There aren't too many things I dislike about Athens, except for the proliferation of DUI schools. I've never seen so many in one place in my life! And what I hate worse is when they give the school a cute name, like "Dawg House DUI School." It feels like it's giving a drunk driver a pat on the back, like, aww, you got caught this time, come to our cute little school and make things better. Urgh. Drunk driving is not cute, and nothing associated with it should sound cute. Plus the DUI schools are only a symptom of the problem of too much alcohol+too young and stupid drivers on the road. It makes me nervous sometimes being out on the road, especially since I've already been feeling a little more edgy driving since I got pregnant.
*Film: I found an indy theater in Athens that we went to for the first time last night, to see Paris, je t'aime. It's in a refurbished factory, and has a nifty wine/beer/coffee cafe in the entranceway, and you can bring your drinks into the theater. Tim enjoyed watching the movie with a European beer in hand, though perhaps a red wine would have been more appropriate. I *heart* independent and foreign films (and cool theaters to see them in)! The next one we want to see is The Golden Door, telling the story of immigrants coming through Ellis Island (wait, I never wrote about our NYC experiences, such as Ellis Island!)
*Food: well, food in Athens definitely can't compare with the cosmopolitan food found in Pittsburgh, especially Oakland (probably surprising to those who aren't from Pittsburgh, but there's an enormous number of international students who come to study and it really has influenced the kinds of foods around town, not to mention the actively preserved immigrant roots of Pittsburgh itself).
I miss the Strip District!! And the farmers markets all around the city. I found one in Athens that I was really excited about, but we got there, and there were just a few little tables and a handful of vegetables. Nothing like the proliferation we were used to.
But, in Athens' favor, there are many interesting latin American restaurants (and grocery stores) around--Mexican, Cuban, Columbian, Salvadorean--that we'll have fun checking out. And a couple of odd combinations, like a German-Turkish sandwich shop.
I've also found a few stores I want to check out when I have the chance--a fish market, an Indian grocery store, and a couple of gourmet food stores.
*Football: well, I think Athens probably gets almost as excited about football as Pittsburgh, but I can't imagine it being nearly as much fun! Go Stillers!
Posted by Tim and Jo at 10:00 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 3, 2007
Shared obsessions and home decor 101
In getting ready for our anniversary, I've been reading through our early chronicles. Starting with the time leading up to our first date and continuing through the present (Vol. VII just came out!), Tim (and I, since we got married) has kept a chronicle of our life together.
Anyway, I had forgotten some of the details of what inspired his first attraction to me, beyond our shared faith. It's such a quirky list that it really shows me God's providence in bringing us together (who else would have a list like this??). Among the things that sparked his interest were:
*the fact that I had read Dickens' novel Dombey and Son
*my love for writing fugues
*our shared interest in Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time (the inspiration for our blog title)--neither of us have quite made it through the 3,000+ page novel, but we're both still working on it (Tim has passed me now!)
*our mutual love of travel
*my love for Tolkien (before the films, cough, cough)
*the use of semicolons in my SIP/senior thesis
The beginnings of my attraction to Tim? Well, it didn't involve any use of semicolons. :-) But his love for music, literature, and travel were definitely a huge part of it. Plus watching him covered in cute kids every week at church definitely caught my attention.
Anyway, some of our shared obsessions are making it into our house decor. Before his solo trip to London in 2001 (a life-changing experience for him, I should have him tell some of his stories on this blog) and before our joint trip to Paris in 2005, Tim found pictures of London and Paris that he loved and blew them up into posters on his printer. He had put them away since we got married, but now we have tons of blank, mundane wall space begging for some color. So, our house is looking like something in between a museum and a tourist trap! But it really reflects us!
On our fireplace, we have our Dickens and Shakespeare collection, flanked by each of our copies of In Search of Lost Time.
Over Dickens, we've hung up a picture of The Old Curiosity Shop, the Globe Theater hangs above Shakespeare, and a Parisian art nouveau metro stop coordinates with the covers of Proust.
Fun times!
Posted by Tim and Jo at 3:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Three Years Ago
Three years and two sweet potatoes later....
...we're still having just as much fun. Actually, more! I never realized marriage would be so terrific--to have your best friend and best pal right there every day.
Posted by Tim and Jo at 2:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack