Do the Hustle

I spent this past weekend pretending I was back in college with my dancing friends! The excuse for our get-together was Erich's wedding, and it was a blast. Of course, I had to pretend I was back in college minus the drinking...and mostly minus the dancing, too, as we all decided we didn't want to risk the pregnant lady spinning out of control across the dance floor during a fast hustle or swing, and there were few slow songs to be heard. (There were a few at the beginning of the night--thanks to David for my one rumba of the night!).

Here are a few photos:

Susan & Erich, happily married

Me & Sarah

Rodger & Kelly

Sarah & David

Pickle & Knitting Update

Here it is, the baby sleeping bag/blanket! I never did find quite the buttons I had imagined, but these wooden ones worked out just fine. I tried to find our dear friend Furious George to model using the blanket for us, since he did such a fine job with the diaper wrap, but it appears he has not been unpacked and I really have no idea where he is. Anyhow, the blanket is knit with two strands of KnitPicks Crayon--it is the softest yarn I have ever worked with, and machine washable--perfect for a baby blanket. [If you are having trouble envisioning how it works, I'll clue you in by mentioning that the top (right, in this photo) is actually sewn together like a hood, and then the rest is just a long blanket folded in half and buttoned up the sides so that the baby can't kick it off.]


Meanwhile, Andy's formerly hulk-like sweater-ish thing has now graduated to "hey look--its a sweater!" recognizability. This will, in fact, be a cardigan, but is currently sans zipper (hence Andy is holding it together in the front). And when will it be a cardigan? Well, sometime after I buy a zipper :).


I am now in week 26, i.e. trimester #3--where did the time go? I am also, as you can see, getting HUGE. At least I feel huge. I do occasionally see women who are 8 and 9 months pregnant, and am reminded that this is not, in fact, HUGE, this is just BIG...I still have a ways to go. I have already (several times) had the unfortunate experience of trying to fit through a doorway when I had not opened the door widely enough to let my new-size self fit through...oops. My apologies to Pickle for the random bumps into doors and doorways!

Pickle seems to be doing just fine--kicking more than ever. S/he particularly seems to enjoy mid-morning and late afternoon, then late evening as times to try poking all of my internal organs. This means that our child will already not sit still through church, even when daddy is preaching (as he was last Sunday)!

Pastor Gubbins Sightings

Ack! When did he become Pastor Gubbins?!?!

Yay for Local Festivals

Given recent trends, it seems our weeks will be so busy that the only time we'll have to post is on the weekend. Given that, you may have to wait in suspense to hear the news a week late of what we've been up to! Last weekend, for instance, was our inaugural experience attending the Defeat of Jesse James Days!

This is Northfield's big to-do that is held every year to celebrate the "peace-loving citizens" who fought back when James' gang tried to rob the local bank. If I remember correctly, two of the gang members were killed and the rest were run out of town sans money--there were also some casualties among the townspeople.

Ioan was kind enough to leave mighty, mysterious, magnificent Mankato to join us for the day.

Like any good festival, there was food...and a craft fair and carnival rides/games...

...and more food

The highlight of this festival are a series of bank-raid re-enactments that happen at the actual site of the attempted bank robbery (the old bank building is now the historical society). This is an action shot of a few of the gang members circling the street outside the bank, shooting their guns in the air and ordering the townspeople to get off the street.

Week one: Done.

I am happy to say that I survived my first week of full-time teaching. It was kind of a doozy--three classes is a lot of work, even if I am co-teaching one and the other two are two sections of the same course. All said, there were no disastrous results--in fact, students seemed generally receptive, cooperative, and patient, if not overly excited to be back in school sitting through lectures again.


My sweetie surprised me by leaving these in my classroom just before my first lecture on Thursday--aren't they lovely? I half expected students to be asking where the flowers came from and whose they were, but they didn't. I think they were too full of pregnancy-related questions for me (is it your first one? do you know if its a boy or a girl? when are you due?).


Knitting Notes:

I currently have two works-in-progress: Pickle's blanket/sleeping bag and Andy's sweater. The blanket is done except for buttons--I have no buttons. Luckily, I took advantage of stopping by the St. Olaf Knitter's booth at the student activity fair this past week to ask about a local yarn store, and there is one! We went today--its a lovely gift shop with all kinds of fun things, and yarn and fabric in the basement.

(Here I am outside my new LYS)

So the good news I have a LYS! They even had an assortment of buttons, but not the kind I need. So the baby blanket/sleeping bag is still on hold. Andy's sweater, however, has been getting all kinds of attention as we continue to feed our Netflix addiction voraciously, giving me lots of knitting time. Its my first raglan sweater, and so far I like it--we'll have to see how looks on him of course...

Here Andy is, trying on the sweater just after I attached sleeves to the main body--due to its still being on the needles we couldn't stretch it up and around him to get both arms in sleeves, so instead we have this lovely shot in which I think he kind of looks like a very friendly Incredible Hulk, who just accidentally burst out of his sweater!

Fun at the Fair

Last weekend Andy and I took a break from settling-in craziness to attend the Great Minnesota Get-Together, in what has become a yearly tradition for us. We had a lovely time--it was the first non-rainy day in a week and the weather was just perfect. Of course, it was not only the first NICE day, but also the first Saturday of the fair, so we were joined by throngs of people. We were both surprised at how long we--and Jess in particular, being 6 months pregnant--lasted: about 8 hours. That's one fun-filled day at the fair! Here are a few (okay, maybe more than a few) highlights...

Here we are, ready to go!

...and here they are: the throngs


Andy's honey with the honey


Our "little potato" with the potatoes (thanks to the O-O's for introducing us to the song!)


Baaaa.

Need I say more?

Only in Minnesota would a highlight of the fair (for me at least) be looking at sculptures made entirely of butter. That's right, Princess Kay of the Milky Way (& runners-up) gets her head carved in a 90-lb block of butter...and after the fair they all get to take their butter-heads home. Now you tell me, what would you do with a nearly-90-lb butter-bust of yourself? (To learn more about this entertaining tradition, click here.)

We also love the eco-building...this is a cool hydrogen-powered utility truck.

Mmmmm...food on a stick.

Can you imagine that Jess had to actually ask for this hat at the Gedney pickle booth? You'd think they would know better and would just automatically hand them out to pregnant women like they do to little kids...


The Midway (as seen atop the ferris wheel).

See how nicely the pregnant one is obeying the "remain seated at all times" sign? That's right mothers, Pickle was safely inside the gondola the entire time.

...as was daddy-to-be.

One of Jess' favorite games is one where you use a rubber mallet to try and flip a rubber frog onto a moving lily pad...I have yet to win, but I can't resist trying every time we go to the fair.

Andy and the shooting game he always wins...except this year. This is generally where we get our random stuffed animals that Jess leaves the fair adorned with, but this year we managed to escape the Midway without any adornment, thanks in part to some kid on the end who beat Andy, and also to Jess's self-restraint in not playing any of the "everyone wins" games she usually plays to boost her win-ability-confidence (I have yet to win an actual prize, at a game where you aren't guaranteed a prize, at any fair I've attended in recent memory).