Mee tongue turned orange

Friday I (Heather) reached another milestone... 7 months! Unfortunately with this event comes with it a glucose screening test for gestational diabetes. The test goes a little something like this: drink a really sweet pop in a really short period of time and wait an hour and get some blood taken out of your arm.

As we entered the clinic there was a very pregnant woman at the front desk ready to pop any minute. Upon hearing what I was there for, she warned me that the test is not fun and that if the test results show high glucose results that there is then a 3-hour follow-up test which sounded miserable.

The nurse gave me the option of orange or lemon-lime flavored drink. Citrus has proven to be torturous to my palate during my pregnancy so neither were to my liking. She suggested the orange claiming it tasted like Sunkist soda. She brought the bottle to me and told me I had 10 minutes to drink it down.

I would agree that it tasted like Sunkist except that it tasted like Sunkist concentrate. In other words it was so sweet I could hardly stomach it. I took all 10 minutes - down to the very last second - to down this concoction. David had his camera ready to document this event. An hour later, my blood was drawn and my results were normal. Thank goodness! I really didn't want to go through that again.

Despite all the sugar in the system, my energy level was put to shame on Friday evening when we attended little sister's dance troupe showcase. One would think that if the dancing didn't leave them completely winded that it would at least disable their screaming function, which they utilize whenever there is someone else performing, about to perform, or having just performed.

Sunday was a bit more laid back (and sugar free). We went to the Historical Society with mom (Nan) and Peter. We went there to learn more about our neighbors. The first stop was the Open House exhibit; the story of 470 Hopkins Street. Then we went to see Mee; a tell-all documentary about Mee Moua's run in the special primary. Unfortunately the movie probably won't be released on a larger scale until after this year's election.

And on that note, consider this your PSA for the precinct caucuses that are just around the corner. As always, we will continue to be advocating “Instant Runoff Voting” and urge you to do the same. Let us know if you would like some language for creating a resolution demanding Instant Runoff Voting.

Book learnin'

When I (David) graduated just over a year ago, I had vowed to go an entire year without reading any non-fiction books. In a coincidence of timing, Heather and I realized that my notion of moving the TV room into the basement and converting the sun room into a library was merely a pipe dream of utilitarian harmony (at least for the time being). So instead (or temporarily) I crafted a crude library in the basement. Books were pulled out of the attic and shelved, and comfy reading furniture was installed. Apart from expanding the collection, all that remains is a need for decoration that could mask the coal bin like aesthetics of the ‘reading chamber’. The coincidence of this act is that it occurred a short while ago as my fiction-only fast ended. And before any dust (cat litter debris) could settle on the books, I immediately dove into a crime-ladened memoir. It turns out that there are several-months-reading worth of books that had been given to me during the college days that I had put away until my academic career was over.

Despite the new library housing several books that I know I would never part with, I recently noticed that there is a distinct lack of crown jewels in the collection. Therefore I have decided to make it a goal to get my hands on a vintage collection of tocqueville’s democracy in America

Seeing as how this may well be an easily achievable goal, I thought I might fill shelf space in other ways as well. There is already a small stack of children’s books (including some essential Richard Scarry.) But now the search is on for stories with themes that introduce wee-little-ones to concepts that might otherwise be hard to come by in modern American life. Perhaps something along the lines of a community that successfully sustains itself without the values of "ownership" and/or "individualism". I have a hunch that such stories might be abundant in the world of children’s literature. Once we have access to them, and they’ve been committed to memory after countless bedtime readings, perhaps then it will be easy to reference them as a guiding illustration when we've been led to a perplexed questioning of western culture, after enduring a long string of the "but why?" questions young ones are so renowned for.

Ice bikes

February is usually a time of year where it becomes the off season for most of the sporting events out there. Not so for local bicycle racing though. True Minnesota creativity reveals itself with races taking place next month. The more unique one is the Minnesota Off Road Cyclists' race through the St. Paul skyway system (Feb. 8th). Even though this race still promises to be a great joy to witness, the fact that they'll run it in time-trial format and ban people for riding down stairs (“for safety reasons”) certainly dampens its potential. Nevertheless, I'll probably still be out there, camera in hand hoping to catch some spills.

For a real, genuine, hardcore blast of true winter cycling anarchy, nothing beats the Stupor Bowl (Feb. 4th). There won't be any of those sissy 'no-riding-down-stairs' rules there. Though I (David) don't know where my volunteer assignment is yet, I've received word that my strategic placement is still being planned. If anyone is planning to be a spectator for this one, make sure to wear something purple and a super-thin mustache, because this year's theme is Purple Rain.

Of course the most worthwhile use of one's time is still the MN Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance's annual meeting (Jan 28th). Not only are you free from having to race anyone for this event, but Spokes Pizza will be delivering pizza for the event at 6:00pm. So one can stop on by the Depot, grab a slice, hobnob with your fellow advocates, and talk about the upcoming races (not to mention the always enjoyable membership renewal).

So that's the news from H and D's lodge. Remember: keep your eye out for sticks on the ice. I'm pullin' for ya. We're all in this together.

Black like a kettle. Or a pot. Or a frying pan.

Happy MLK day!

Today, instead of partaking in one or more of the many meaningful ways Americans typically celebrate the King, such as by attending special super blowout sales at local retailers, I (David) had opted to take advantage of the extra downtime at work by seasoning the cast iron cookware that dad had brought up during the previous holiday.

The original plan was to spend a lot of the weekend scraping the rust and chard bits off of the pans so that I could spend all morning baking them during my downtime while there was no one else here. However the weekend ended up being extra social, so I only had a chance to finish one pan. And since I couldn't get the ventilation hoods to work, I was only able to bake for about an hour before the smoke became a significant issue. So the new plan is, rather than wait for the next holiday, I will simply finish scraping the pans at my own pace, and fire them outside over the hot coals of the BBQ grill. “Hey neighbor, smells delicious, watch-ya grillin'?” “Frying pans. Care for one?”

So the rest of this morning's downtime is meant for blogging, I guess. Which is good because Heather and I had fun this weekend with our social engagements. We made sure to bring extra significance to our discussions with friends and family by probing them for their thoughts on a potential schedule change I had been considering. On Friday we hung out with Andy who used to work a 77 hour work week. Saturday we went to visit Matt and Christine. Matt used to work a double shifts on the weekends at St. Kate's while obtaining his master's degree and raising two kids. On Sunday Mom and Peter came over, and in addition to talking about work and other adventures, I was asked to demonstrate what I've been learning with the new accordion. Not everyone was so lucky though. Andy's mom had been disappointed when we had arrived at their house without her old squeeze box. But I'm sure I'll more than make up for it when I put her down as the first name on the guest list when I'm asked to fill in to an ill Flaco Jimenez.

"Marge, beer me!"

The new refrigerator was delivered yesterday. The old one was having liver problems, so we decided to put it to rest. In anticipation of the delivery, and in part because the new fridge has built in can dispensers, I (David) stopped by the liquor store on the way home from work to pick up a case of beer. When I got home, the voice mail informed me that I only had ten minutes to empty out the fridge before the delivery people arrived. Surprisingly I was successful with this task, and all went according to plan. I rewarded myself with a couple of beers.

Due to a combination of neglect and liquor stores being closed on Sundays, I had gone without beer for a few days. I'm not a big fan of hard liquor, and recently wine hasn't been treating me well, so I had avoided substitutions. Now that I'm back off the wagon however, I might try testing my skills again as a connoisseur of all alcoholic beverages. Especially if someone pays me for it. Heather had been informed that a consumer products research group is looking for participants for an alcohol study. It would appear that if I don't already drink the brands that they're testing (a likely scenario), then I might qualify to participate.

"Woohoo, free beer!" -Homer

Statistic Notes

Todays statistical analysis commentator is: David

After a good looking over of blog visitor statistics, two new links have been added to the sidebar (welcome Jon and KM). Similar to Nathan and Pete, I suspect that I haven't actually met these folks, but since Heather and I are linked to them, they might as well be linked to us.

Further analysis of statistics has revealed the need for a new Internet slang term. Therefore I am now going to be the first to create “NBF” (Not BlackBerry Friendly) Note: for those who don't know, a BlackBerry is a fancy cell phone. Such an acronym could be used in conjunction with links which go to pages that exclusively run Java or Flash Player type media (or whatever the term for it is).

Here is how it might work in an example:
Heather was watching TV the other day when a commercial came on for Sylvan Learning Center. Apparently, bored at the time, Heather decided to crunch some of the numbers that were being used in the commercial. So she pulled out her handy pocket calculator (<--NBF). [ironically, Heather's calculator is actually her Blackberry] Heather quickly discovered that the commercial (for an elite private education service no less) had a rather humorous mistake.