Here comes the sun

The sun finally made an appearance! Hubby celebrated the sunny day with this outfit:

A snazzy hat

A combo of green and yellow

And some white dancing shoes

hat- purchased in New Orleans
shirt- Old Navy sale
blazer- Banana Republic sale
bow tie- thrifted
shoes- thrifted

Funny letter

Yesterday I received this note from an anonymous student.

It just made my day.

Brownie study

Yesterday night I baked two boxes of brownies for my students.  

Name brand, meet generic.

I baked both boxes, let them cool overnight, and then asked hubby to try one piece of each. 

Can you guess which is which?

After trying both, he couldn't tell the difference!  They tasted the same.

Update:  My students loved the brownies and they couldn't tell the difference either.  Generic Spartan brand, you rock!

Two for one

Even though I only go into work two to three times a week, I still like feeling a little glamorous at home.  So as I'm sitting at my dining room table doing work in my pjs, I like to wear this ring to feel a bit hipper and cooler.

Two cool fingers

belly update

A stranger asked me when I was expecting. 

I've now passed the "pudgy around the middle" stage.

This little guy is growing bigger too!

New life

The message of Easter is all about new life.  This message seems particularly relevant for hubby and me right now.  We're in the midst of settling into a new life in Michigan and soon we're going to start a new life as mommy and daddy to the new life growing inside my belly.

Last night we invited two friends over to Easter dinner.    

New traditions with some new friends

Four for Four

Hubby and I are addicted to the show Extreme Couponing on TLC.  This show documents coupon savvy shoppers purchasing carts and carts of grocery store products for very little money.  We watch with mouths agape as hauls initially costing hundreds (and sometimes even thousands) of dollars drop to 10% of their initial bill.

How do these super shoppers do it?   They clip lots and lots of coupons, put in 30-40 hours of hard work each week clipping and planning, and only purchase sale items with coupons on "double coupon" days.  In honor of this show, hubby and I now keep our eyes open for coupons and sales.  Our first "extreme" purchase?
 

Strawberries-  4 lbs for $4.00!

Ooh.  So extreme.  (Extremely delicious!)

By the way- Happy Easter!

Bedtime reading

I love children's storybooks.  I love their simple plots and colorful illustrations.  Now that we're going to have a baby soon, I'm keeping my eyes peeled for some new ones to add to my collection.  Hubby recently spied this book on Amazon.

It contains beautiful illustrations and lyrical verses like

The cats nestle close to their kittens now.
The lambs have laid down with the sheep.
You're cozy and warm in your bed, my dear
Please go the f*ck to sleep.

Hmm, to buy or not to buy?  It is on sale...

Here's looking at you, kid

My glasses finally arrived.  Now I can see and drive again!

You know what they say...

"April showers bring May flowers"

But since it snowed here two days ago, perhaps the Michigan saying should be
"April snow showers bring May flowers."

Hubby and I are having a tough time believing that Spring is actually coming.  I'm longing for the days when I can shed my coat and expose my pale arms to a warm and bright sun.  Here are two of hubby's "Almost spring" outfits:

Nothing says spring like a nice jean jacket

White on white on white. 

We're having a boy!

Hello!  I'm  made of frogs and snails and puppy-dogs' tails.

image taken from here

Weird weekend

We had some weird sightings this weekend.  Here are some photos documenting these strange incidences:

Mysterious bowl of spelling soup

This cat-like creature emerged from the griddle

Tomato?  Or brain?

Finally!  A photo to prove to hubby that Big-bird does exist!

Big belly

We've hit the 20 week mark!

It's almost time to find out baby's gender...

No more taxes!

With the tax deadline approaching, hubby and I are sitting easy.  Instead of spending our weekend fighting with Turbo Tax, we visited a professional and finished within an hour.  Everything went so smoothly and we received our first refund yesterday.  Score!  Here's a limerick to celebrate this wonderful event.    

A couple that once hated tax time

They struggled to fill in those darn lines

"We've had quite enough!"

they said with a huff

"A pro will be worth every dime."

Lost

I lost my glasses and need to get a new pair.  Since I haven't purchased glasses in several years, I first had to get an eye checkup.  According to the doctor, my right eye is a LOT worse than my left eye.  Hmm, perhaps I should get this?

Hello monocle!

 Image taken from here

Special delivery

Earlier this week I received a package of maternity clothes from Hubby's cousin.  They came at just the right time.  My pants were getting so tight that it hurt to button them up.  Hubby joked that baby was going to be born with a waistband imprinted onto its forehead. 

The results of my impromptu fashion show.  Charlie gave the outfits two paws up.

First Easter

Driving by the mall we saw plenty of signs announcing the arrival of the Easter Bunny.  Excited to have baby take part in this holiday tradition, hubby and I arranged an informal photo shoot at home.

Baby's first Easter photo

Windy city

This weekend we visited Chicago with our Aunt.  Although New York is still my favorite city, I can see why people find Chicago to be so charming and beautiful.

What do my country bumpkin eyes spy?  A complimentary water bottle filling station!

We rudely walked through a conversation.  This big face was talking to...

his good friend.

This reflective object called out to us from a distance.  Oooh, shiny!

Here's the otherworldly view beneath the giant shiny bean.

One of Chicago's rivers

Another view of water- Lake Michigan

Is it a pie?  Is it a quiche?  No, it's one of Chicago's most famous attractions:  stuffed pizza.  Note:  This was a "small."

Increasing slope

Whoa!  Big jump in circumference!

Pass the pasta

Even though hubby works hard during the day, he still manages to act as the official family chef every other week.  It's so nice sharing the cooking responsibilities with him.  Neither one of us gets "burned out" from cooking the same thing every week and we're guaranteed homemade dinners during the weekdays.

I especially enjoy hubby's cooking because he's so creative and daring. 

Here's last night's pièce de résistance:

Handmade turkey and red pepper ravioli sauteed in a light butter sage sauce

As a gal who grew up eating canned or frozen ravioli, I always thought that the sauce made the pasta dish.  Pasta was just something to cover with yummy sauce.  Last night I finally saw how freshly made pasta really can be the star of the meal.  Three cheers for pasta maker machines and hubby's culinary creations!

Yearly argument

Quiz time

Q:  What does this sequence represent?

       Pickle, cookie, cookie, pickle, cookie, cookie

     (a) nothing
     (b) a new type of diet
     (c) my afternoon snack
    





Answer:
(c)  Before I could stop myself, I popped this strange sequence of items into my mouth for a tasty afternoon snack.  My stomach apparently has a mind of its own.   

Getting down with new lingo

According to my friend Alice and Urban Dictionary, "om nom nom nom" is considered a real word.  How funny.

Here's my first attempt at using this hip new term:

We made burgers last night.  Om nom nom nom!  They were so yummy.

Belly graph

Last week I noticed a change in my students' attention.  Instead of looking at my face when I was lecturing, many stared at my belly.  I think I'm beginning to show.

Thoughts

Sometimes it seems like all I think about  is food- what I've eaten, what I'd like to eat, or what I'm actually going to eat.

Hmm, upon further reflection... perhaps this comic strip shows me endorsing cannibalism. Ick.

Ah ah pralines

When we were in New Orleans, we took a cooking class here:

And today hubby put his new knowledge to good use

Yum, pralines! (I think I'm on a sugar high...)