Bundalo Christmas

We had a great few days with my family this year. My Mom and Dad arrived on Saturday. Katie and Mike came on Sunday. We went to brunch, watched movies, played games, had our traditional Italian beef and mostaccioli, lots of appetizers, and opened lots of thoughtful presents. It was great to be together over the holidays and we were so thankful of them making the trip.

The Christmas that almost wasn't....

We luckily averted a Christmas tragedy this year. At the Bundalo family Christmas we usually play games or cards pretty late and one of the ingredients that keeps the party going are some Christmas libations. The boys were sent on Sunday to get some "soldiers" for the holidays. That was our first mistake sending holiday shopping rookies on this very important mission. As most women know stores actually close on Christmas Eve and Christmas, so it isn't exactly easy to run out and pick up those missing items. I do blame myself for not being more vigilant on our rations but alcohol has not really been on my radar for the last nine months. Well, by Christmas day I opened the fridge and realized we only had four beers left... Not a good realization for the party host. We went to CVS which was open to find out that the state of Michigan has a law that you can't purchase alcohol from 9:00pm Christmas Eve until 12:00pm on December 26th. The rest of the story could have been tragic, however, in Brian's congregations one of the elders is a beer distributer. Brian called his elder on Christmas Day around 2:00. The elder sent us a party pack of different beers to get us throught the night and assured us that he had just done the same for several neighbors who also ran into a similar problem. Luckily, we're Lutheran and not Baptist! Brian brought a card and gift to the elder. The Christmas card was of the wise men following the star to Baby Jesus. Brian wrote on the inside, "Those that follow the star will never be lost. Pastors whose elders are beer distributors will never go thirsty..." Thus our tragedy was averted.

4 Weeks to Go!

My due date is fast approaching and all is continuing to go well. I had my 36 week appointment yesterday and the baby's head is down in position, and I am 50% effaced which means my body is really preparing for birth. Exciting. I am feeling well but very excited to meet my little girl and be pregnant no longer.

Negotiations

On Saturday, Brian's Dad drove in from New York. He was planning on coming Sunday, but with the forecasted snow storm decided to leave a little early. It was a good thing. He made it about three hours before the storm. We had a great visit. We went to a Greek restaurant and Christmas party Saturday and were properly "snowed-in" on Sunday, watching football and making chicken noodle soup. We got to spend a good morning/afternoon together on Monday and we took Wa to the airport that night. One of the reasons for Wa's visit was to bring us their old mini-van. Wa and Linda have upgraded cars and we offered to take their old mini-van off their hands if it would be convenient for them (as if driving nine hours on your Saturday before a snowstorm could ever be convenient). Brian is still in negotiations with his parents on this acquisition with the sticking points of the deal being the loose change currently in the vehicle and the rooster towel. Brian claims the deal for the van was as is, not the van minus the change, minus the rooster towel... Seriously, it is very nice of Wa and Linda to pass along their vehicle. We certainly appreciate their generosity and will use it for as many miles as it will allow.

6 Weeks to go!

The end of my pregnancy has been treating me very well. I am almost used to this larger state, I have been sleeping fine, and feeling less tired than at other times during pregnancy. Brian and I tease that this bodes well for future pregnancies! We'll see how the delivery goes. Last weekend we attended our child birth classes which makes everything seem all too real. We are trying at home to prepare for the arrival of our little girl by doing some last minute things like setting up the bassinet and my goal for today packing my bag for the hospital! We got quite the snowfall Saturday into Sunday and we have a snow day called for today. How nice for the Monday before Christmas. I'm not sure who will enjoy this day more the teachers or the kids. Brian's Dad, Roy, is also here for a weekend visit. Luckily, he made it before the snow so we will have a great day of projects together. The picture above is just before we went to a Christmas party on Saturday night. I'm both looking and feeling pretty pregnant and really only three more weeks until I'm full term!

Brian's Day Off

Brian just moved his day off from Fridays to Mondays and I think it was a great decision. He's actually taken the last two Mondays off! It's been nice because Brian really does need a little rest after the intensity of Sundays, and little things kept popping up during the week pushing his responsibilities to be taken care of on Friday (his supposed day off.) Now by taking Mondays off, he has no choice. Time just runs out on him at the end of the week. I personally love his days off because he is so cute and optimistic about all he'll get done. I think one Sunday he mentioned 20 different things that he could get done on his day off. So precious. To be fair, he has done tons on his days off, and it is great to have such a helpful husband. On Monday, he decorated our exterior for Christmas. The Hessels from St. Peter own a greenhouse and give us the outside decorations as a present. They gave us a fresh wreath, the evergreen roping, a beautiful poinsettia and a batch of holly. Brian put up the lights on Monday and I love them. I turn on the lights even in the morning as I leave for work so I can see them as I drive away. I know I am an absolute goof. Brian really has gotten much done for us on his days off, as I admit my contributions to the household have slowed quite a bit as my pregnancy has progressed. School is taking quite a bit of my daily energy, but I am doing well. Luckily, we have a few more Mondays until the baby arrives for Brian to continue whittling away his honey-do list.

Christmas Tree

One of my favorite days of the year is cutting down our Christmas tree. With moving from year to year Brian and I never wanted to get a fake tree to lug between midwest cities, so we always cut down real trees. Now it has become our tradition, and I would hate to change it (though I'm sure we'll soon see what a new baby does to a lot of our routines.) We went last Saturday to hunt for our tree. Since we live on the edge of the city we didn't have to travel too far, and we cut our tree down at Blake's. They had a lot of great trees to choose from and delicious hot apple cider at the end. We followed up the acquiring of our tree with the set up and our traditional pizza dinner, minus the wine for me. We also did not watch Christmas vacation like usual but a little college football conference championship night enhanced by Brian's new surround sound system, an early birthday gift from Linda and Wa. It was a wonderful night and we got a beautiful tree.

Elf

Brian's friend Mark Svare sent him this link today of the two of them "getting down". It is certainly in the holiday spirit and good for a laugh. CLICK HERE FOR ELF LINK

Chicago Baby Shower

Last Saturday my Mom, Katie, and Ginger threw a baby shower for me and my little girl. They had it in one of the smaller rooms of the Elmcrest, where I worked in college and where we had our wedding reception. Everything was beautiful. Ginger made the invitation and favors, pink bracelets. The flowers for corsages were gorgeous. The decorations were all wonderful and the menu was excellent. They put together some fun games for the shower like not being able to say the word baby and a celebrity trivia baby name game. For another shower game people had to cut ribbon and try to guess how big is baby (or my waist for that matter). They also melted candy bars into diapers that were quite the sight, and you had to guess what type of candy was in each diaper, a candy lineup if you will. The games were fun and everyone brought such adorable and generous gifts, but the best part was seeing all the great people from Chicago. It was wonderful to visit with everyone and it was just a great afternoon. To view our PHOTOS FROM THE SHOWER CLICK HERE!

Thanksgiving

We have quite a lot to be thankful for this year, and we had quite the celebration this holiday. Brian gave the sermon at church on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. After the Thursday morning service we left Macomb and headed to Chicago. It was an uneventful trip considering the dire weather predictions of the previous days and thankfully there was really not a lot of congestion on the roads. We arrived in Chicago around 3:30 and were able to celebrate with my parents, Katie, Michael, Stephanie (Mike's girlfriend), and Nana. We even got a visit from Tony. As always the food and old fashions were great. We went Christmas shopping with all the other crazy people on black Friday and had our traditional after Thanksgiving meals of leftover turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sandwiches for lunch and Lou Malnati's pizza for dinner. We had a baby shower on Saturday and that was awesome. I will post more on that later. It was simply great to be with family over the weekend. I am glad we have a few pictures to remember the weekend. The one at top is of Brian the instigator and his favorite prey, My Mom. He always seems to be able to get her going. The one at the bottom right is of my Dad washing dishes after dinner. I felt his helpfulness need be commemorated. Love you guys!

Birthday Video

For my birthday Brian made me the video above. He is such the sweetheart! It is so funny for me to look at pre-pregnancy pictures of myself. I also love the song he picked though I'm not sure we ever drank three bottles of redwine...Well, we may have been close a few times. Such fun times, Thanks Bri.

Baby Shower Take 2

What a busy but great weekend! Last week Wednesday my Mom made it into town and on Saturday the Davies joined us for our second baby shower. Some women from St. Peter put it together for us and it was wonderful. There was a cake made out of diapers, a fancy homemade dessert cake, plenty of homemade brunch food, a scrapbook for remembrances, center pieces that were actually presents, many thoughtful gifts, and many many thoughtful people. It was overwhelming all the work people put into the shower and how truly generous they were in thinking of us and our little girl.
It was so nice for our Moms to be there and see how great the people of St. Peter are.
We spent most of the rest of the weekend processing all of our presents and continuing to set up the baby's room. The baby girl stuff was so much fun to go through and add to our nursery. After the shower Brian immediately went to Buffalo Wild Wings with his Dad, I think mostly to counter the morning shower with a little football, beer, and testosterone. Brian was just so grateful he didn't have to help me sort out onesies and diapers all weekend. As usual our parents were so much help and it was so fun to have them be a part of the experience. It is crazy to think the next time we see Linda and Wa, we won't be two Davies any longer but three!

Birthday Girl

Saturday was my 27th birthday and it couldn't have been better. During the day we were at the vendor fair and in the evening Brian and I went out to a wonderful celebratory dinner. We went to the new outdoor walking mall they built in town and ate at a restaurant called Brio Tuscan Grille. The mall is an outing in itself with a lot of upscale stores and an extravagant pavilion complete with a huge outdoor fire place. For dinner I had wonderful fillet medallions served with hollandaise sauce over Parmesan crusted roasted tomatoes. It was the best meal I've had since I was pregnant. For dessert they even had my favorite creme brulee. The leisurely evening out with my wonderful husband couldn't have been nicer. We came home and I opened my thoughtful gifts from that wonderful husband. My growing belly and I couldn't have been happier, what an awesome birthday!

Landmark Photography

On Saturday Brian sold some of his original pictures above at a St. Peter Vendor Fair. He donated all the profits from his sales towards the 8th grade class trip to Washington D.C. Being his wife, I'm the co-president (with his Mom of course) of the Brian Davies fan club so I might be just a little bias, but isn't he talented? The customers of the vendor fair must have thought so too because Brian sold 26 framed and unframed pictures and will be donating the proceeds from $360 in sales. What a fun afternoon.

October's End

This spring Brian and I planted a new maple tree. It is a Red October Maple and we can certainly see why it is so named. The tree is a beautiful sight out of our kitchen window. With the end of October, the leaves are now quickly falling, but we will look forward to its beautiful return in the spring.
Also, with the end of October is the end of pastor appreciation month. We have certainly enjoyed all the ways everyone has shown Brian their appreciation, from greeting cards, to baked goods, to gift cards. People have been so generous and thoughtful. One gift however, we must admit we will NOT be eating. Brian was once visiting a St. Peter family in their home and commented on the good aromas from the kitchen. The woman of the house replied that is was squirrel for dinner. Brian almost laughed thinking it was a joke, however, it was not...
It has now become an inside joke between Brian and the family (a wonderful family by the way). One day last week we came home and this family left a gift at our door. Can you guess what the mystery meat is? We are posting a picture so we can refrain from the famous Dave Barry line, "I am not making this up."

Start of Month 7!

Today we have officially finished 6 months of pregnancy and are starting our 7 month! The last week or so has been a big growth spurt for both the baby and me (as you can see from the picture.) The baby is now over two pounds and close to 15" long. We are in our 27th week and as the baby grows she will be adding mostly fat and weight to her already newborn-like body. Her kicks are strong enough now to not only feel them but see them, as my stomach moves with her. My belly button is also dangerously close to becoming an "outtie" in the near future.

Last week we had a little bit of a pregnancy scare. I had a little bit of light spotting on Tuesday night and actually went to the hospital to get things checked out. Everything was just fine and the doctor on call seemed to think it was related to the cough I've had for the last week and a half. Whatever it was, it was certainly a little scary. The good news is that our baby girl is far enough along at this point to live outside of my stomach, but it is also very good for her development that she has not decided to come this early.

So for the end of last week I found myself on bed rest. It actually didn't bother me at all to be off my feet for the three days, and I slept more than 10 hours each night which makes me think I might of actually needed the rest. My cold is now almost 100% gone as well. I am going to return to work on Monday and try to take it as easy as possible while trying to coral 150 kids into learning Algebra. So it has been an eventful but also not eventful last couple of days. As my friend Kristen says the baby will probably be two weeks late now and have to be enduced. I can only hope! If that happens, remind me when I'm two weeks over due that I once said that was a good thing.

Parsonage Party

Last night we had the band members from the contemporary service and their families over for dinner. It was great to thank them for all of their work at getting the new service going. We made a ham and our guests brought an appetizer or dessert to share. We played a music lyric game and had a fire in the beautiful fall night. It was quite the successful night.
About five minutes before we had people arriving Brian stubbed his toe on a wall upstairs. It was pretty bad. Looking back, I don't think I've seen Brian in so much pain since I've met him. But being the loving wife I am, all I could do about the problem was laugh. I'm not sure why exactly I found it funny. Maybe it's because it's not like the wall has moved for the last 80 years its been in existence, or maybe it's because I'm usually the one who does such careless things, but for some reason I thought it was funny. At least I was showing sympathy through my laughs and trying to help him attend to his bloody-stump-of-a-foot. I really wasn't that cold hearted, just a little giggly.
While I was apologizing for laughing as I helped him, Brian likened this toe-stubbing to the time he broke his hip during baseball and Hunter laughed at him from SS. In fact he told me, "You're just like Hunter when I broke my hip." Geoff, if you're wondering, Brian may still harbor some resentment about that. I hope as his foot pain subsides so does his recollection of my less than stellar wife performance. Brian is doing much better today and hopefully we will have no more instances of moving walls or laughing unsympathetic wives.

Deep Thoughts....

Saturday was another beautiful day weather wise here in MI. It was also a great day because Brian took about 50 people from St. Peter, food, a truck full of donated clothes, new socks, new underwear, and jackets to downtown Detroit where they put on an Oktoberfest with Peace Keepers International. They made the lunch in the Church's kitchen downtown and served around 400 needy people in the area. They had games for the kids that came and rented an inflatable castle bounce-house. It was a truly successful afternoon.
In the evening Brian and I attended a silent auction to benefit the Macomb Charitable Foundation that Brian is a board member of. This is a charitable foundation that a local man started with his own contributions years ago and another local woman embraced to help grow. The foundation helps out needy kids and families from Macomb County in numerous ways. There were over 300 people last night at the silent auction and besides being a fun evening, a lot of money was raised for the foundation, and the foundation does awesome things for the area!
I guess what has been occurring to me lately is how much Brian and I have, and how much our little girl already has. She has two loving parents, four loving grandparents, numerous relatives, and many friends all ready to lavish love on her. Contrast that to the people at the Oktoberfest or the people helped by the Macomb Charitable Foundation. I also can't help but think about my own students. One of my 16 year old students is also pregnant. She is about 4 months and going to her first prenatal appointment. I can't help but see the vast head start our little girl is getting.
Being six months pregnant, I think its natural to get a little reflective. I just want so much for our daughter already! (Besides health) I guess I just hope because of all she has been given and all we will give her, our little girl will help to make a difference one day. It makes me think of the Bible verse in Luke:
"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
Brian and I are certainly being entrusted with much. Hopefully, we will be able to give much as well!

Mr. Decorator

Fall has officially arrived here in Michigan. We went from close to 90 on Tuesday to under 60 in the same week. It was a nice break from the heat on the school front and has been just spectacular the last few days. On Saturday Brian and I spent some time winterizing the yard and doing little home projects getting ready for our our little girl. Brian worked on the baby's closet and we are happy to report he is now finished with that project. In the afternoon we went to one of the local garden nurseries to pick up some fall mums. Brian was too cute and decided on a fall theme for our side door. He said we should get two regular pumpkins and one little pie pumpkin in honor of our baby. So adoralbe He envisioned and put together the fall scene in our picture so I've been calling him Mr. Decorator. Who knew he was so multi-talented.
On Sunday we capped off our weekend with a big celebratory Octoberfest. Brian's church, St. Peter is celebrating its 125 year anniversary and the Octoberfest was the pinacle of the year long commemoration. There was plenty of German food, German beer, and dancing to be had. My favorite part was the homemade bavarian creme puffs! It was a great night and a great fall weekend.

What could be worse than being a Chicago fan?

As the Major League playoffs enter the division championships minus the Cubs, and the Bears have given a lackluster start to the NFL season, the disappointment of having Chicago allegiances is all to real. This past Monday night, however, we got an inside look at an allegiance that may even be tougher to stomach. While driving back to Michigan from Albany we stopped in Rochester, NY. There we were able to spend some time with the Hunter family, Geoff and Giselle, Chris Gerber, and Geoff's college friend, Andrew. The Hunters generously hosted us all at their house for the evening, lined up tickets for the guys to go to the Monday night Buffalo-Dallas football game, and put on an excellent tailgate party. I got to experience the art of the tailgate party which was complete with Mrs. Hunter's delicious taco dip. The guys threw the football around and impressively pulled off a Brian long snap, a Geoff 40 yard punt, and an Andrew successful catch. Considering the number of people, the number of cars, and the fact that we had been tailgating for around three hours already, this is more of a feat than you realize. The atmosphere for the game was something to experience and it was great to visit with everyone. The guys went on to the game and the girls headed home to watch with the expert analysis of one, Tony Kornheiser.

The game as you may know was amazing. I'm glad that the guys were able to be there for such a unique night. As Tony so eloquently put it during his commentary (something like), "You don't need a full moon tonight, it is 80 degrees in Buffalo on October 8th. Any amount of money anyone spent to be here tonight, however much work you had to miss, this is worth it." Pretty special for the guys to be a part of that night, except of course if you were a serious Buffalo Bills fan which the Hunters happen to be. Though it looked like a lock for Buffalo, somehow it just didn't happen for them. As a Chicago fan I could say I feel your pain, but I'm not so sure I do. I don't think 100 years of being lovable losers is worse than the one disappointment we Cubs fans had in 2003. Well, The Bills have had a slew of 2003s, which may indeed be more gut wrenching. Experiencing this somewhat first hand, makes me almost say being a Buffalo fan could be worse than being a Chicago fan. It certainly makes it harder to medicate your pain with the tried and true Chicago remedy of "next year". (By the way "next year" looks pretty good for our Cubbies.) Thanks Hunters for a truly great evening and great stay in Rochester!

NY Baby Shower

Saturday was our first official baby shower. Linda and Cheryl hosted it at Normanside Country Club, and everything was just perfect. The room was beautiful. The pink accents were just perfect and the menu of salad and panninis delicious. Mrs. Davies made chocolates molded into baby shapes and Cheryl made adorable boxes that held the favors. It was wonderful to see everyone that came on a busy Saturday and the presents were so generous and fantastic. I think anything baby-size is just too cute, and of course I love anything pink. I had three great helpers at the shower too, Michaela, Jenna, and Katie!

It was a special day and it made me realize again just how blessed my little girl and I are. To see pictures from the great day CLICK HERE.

Chicago Visitors

More news on the baby front; I am happy to report that her grandmother and others are seeing to it that our little girl is going to be a well dressed little lady. We are washing and hanging her clothes and as you can see from the pictures she has quite the wardrobe. My Mom has assured me that she will need all of this and much more. Considering they grow so fast out of the different sizes, I may agree. Already though, she has more pairs of shoes than her Daddy!

This past weekend my brother, Dad, and Mom visited. Someone Brian knows from church got the guys Lions-Bears tickets. The guys had a great time watching the game from the Chrysler supplier's luxury sky box. The game was good, but too bad the Bears are struggling so much. While she was here my Mom helped me organize some baby stuff and she finished the woodwork upstairs. My Dad and Bri went golfing on his "home" course Saturday morning and my Dad helped Brian cut the lawn on the riding mower Saturday.

Saturday night we went out to a local brewery and had a fire at home in the beautiful fall night. We played around the fire where I pretend I'm Tony Reali from Around the Horn and Mike and Brian give me their takes on sports questions. My Dad did a good Woody Paige. It was a great weekend!

Virus Free Computer

You may have noticed an absence in blog posts recently (or maybe not.) We have been very busy, but the real reason for the absence in updates is that our computer came down with an ad-ware virus. We were somehow getting annoying and not very nice pop-ups whenever we used the Internet. We had to bring it to a computer hospital (a store on Romeo Plank), get all our files taken off, the computer wiped clean, and all of our programs put back on. It is amazing how much you can miss technology. Though we have a little more set-up work on our end reinstalling programs and organizing files, I think we are now good.
The last two weeks have brought many fun activities. The baby has been very active in my stomach. I actually felt her for the first time at 14 weeks which was very early and now I feel here all the time. She is especially active after I eat and Brian has felt her kicks many times now too. I had my five month prenatal appointment and all is going smoothly. He asked if I was feeling the baby yet and that was a definite. He said that you can usually feel the baby when you are quiet and resting for the night. I feel her at all times during the day, even in the midst of a busy class period, and at least every hour! It is really special when I feel a jolt from her in the middle of the day. We got a new rug for our baby's room which you can hopefully see in the picture as well as an updated bump-watch.

Fall Harvest

The month of September has been absolutely gorgeous in Michigan. We have been trying to embrace the weather while we can by taking long evening walks and advantage of fall activities. Saturday was absolutely beautiful weather wise so we headed to a local apple orchard where we picked a half bushel of apples and hade some cider doughnuts. We've been using our little harvest for apple crisps, lunches, and snacks. We're not sick of them yet.
From our own backyard we have a large patch of Concord grapes. Last year the birds got to them, but this year we decided to take advantage of our little crop. We are making wine out of our grapes this year. We talked with some elderly people from church that have been making wine for years and found a hobby shop called Cap 'N Cork which specializes in making homemade beer and wine. The last weekend of September we invited two fellow wine loving friends from church, John and Leanne Stallman, and made our elementary attempt at wine production. By the way there was no grape stomping involved. Overly simplified, you make a sugar water solution and pour it over a third to hall full jug of grapes. You need special corks to keep the system sealed but not explosive (air is let out, but not in.) Over a month's time, the sugar eats the yeast of the grapes and produces alcohol. Then it takes a month to separate the sediment and let the wine age. Hopefully, by the time I'm ready to imbibe our homemade vintage will be palatable. We'll keep you posted.

Davies-Bundalo Visit

This past Wednesday my Mom arrived for a visit. Besides helping me buy my first official maternity wear (black pants and jeans), she is helping us in refinishing the wood upstairs. The parsonage has all this great 1927 original dark hardwood trim, doors, and built-ins. She uses goof off to strip all the grime and messy paint splotches from previous parsonage dwellers, and then freshens it up with a min-wax stain/poly combo. She is very good at this task and it makes such a difference in the overall appearance.
The Davies arrived for their visit on Friday! We certainly kept them busy. Linda, my Mom and I did some serious baby shopping with a travel system and rug for the baby's room as our conquests. As usual we were very successful. Brian and his Dad were busy with many home improvement projects. They replaced the ceiling fan in the baby's room, put up new shelving in Brian's closet, winterized the lawn, and fixed the paint splatters on the house shingles. I think I was most excited about the shingles project. When the eves were painted a long time ago it was done a little hastily and there were a lot of white paint splatters left all along the side of the house. It was kind of like the garage doors and every time I pulled up they bothered me. Wa and Brian bought a can of reddish brown spray paint to match the shingles, Brian went up a ladder with his Dad holding, and they covered the 100 or so white paint splotches with the new color. You can't even tell where the white annoyances were anymore. It was great and brings a smile to my face whenever I come up to the side of the house.
On Sunday our visitors got to see the new contemporary service in action. Overall, it was a busy but fabulous weekend and we can't wait for them to return again soon. Thanks for all your help and everything you do for us!

Special Delivery

My first week of school has passed and it was actually quite the tough week in some respects. The kids were great and very excited their teacher is pregnant (maybe because that means a sub for the second half of the year.) I felt a little bit like a spectacle at times when my kids from last year saw me, gasped, and pointed to my expanding belly. I also tried to start out conversations with the fact that I was pregnant to avoid any awkwardness for the other parties. "No I did not gain 20lbs over the summer just from being lazy and eating chocolate, this bulge is my new little girl." I'm kind of glad the initial notification of my pregnancy is done at school.
The bad part of school has been the heat. It was 90 degrees last week, we have no air conditioning and I teach on the second floor which is nothing new from last year. However, our school is building a 9th grade addition to the south side of the building. Therefore, all of the classroom windows facing the south side have been boarded up for the addition, so now I have no windows as well. The classrooms got as hot as 97 degrees. The first day was particularly rough because I actually tried to dress professionally. I don't know if it was the pregnancy hormones or the heat or both but when Brian, my Mom, my Dad, and the Davies all asked me on occasion how my first day went I started sobbing. Sorry everyone! The rest of the week I wore sundresses and felt much better, but sweat more than I thought possible. Next week should cool off and hopefully will be better. I've already decided that when my work environment becomes a little more professional I will start dressing a little more professional.
There were many more important great things this past week that certainly pulled me through. The ultrasound being number one. Then on Friday my cousin, Ginger, sent me pink Gerber daisies at work in honor of my little girl. That definitely brought a smile to my face and made me forget about any heat I may have been feeling. The picture above is myself, my growing belly housing our little girl, and the beautiful bouquet.
On Saturday Brian and I started to register for some baby gear. Boy, were we out of our league. We realized that we know barely anything about baby equipment and decided to regroup and bring our parents to help. Brian was great though. I gave him an A+ for behavior. He is usually good for the most part during our shopping trips, but then starts breaking down at the end. This time as we were nearing the end and he was starting to get a little tired of contemplating between shades of pink, he held up his four fingers and started saying in the middle of the store, "Fourth quarter, Fourth quarter." This little self pep talk is a common football routine for the fourth quarter of a game, and I found it funny he employed the same technique to finishing the job that he used in a grueling head bashing football game to deciding between baby bedding. I'm not sure which was actually more difficult for him to finish out. Really, he did great in his Dadly duties. Our little girl and I are certainly blessed!

It's a Girl!

We had our first ultrasound today and we rejoice in thankfulness that we have a healthy little baby. It is amazing everything you can see from the ultrasound from the spine, to the heart, to the little hands. All seems well with our little one and we are so thankful. That was really the most important thing to us. The baby was sleeping at the beginning of our ultrasound and after all the poking became one active little baby kicking and waving hands, which was awesome to see. The baby was a little uncooperative in determining the sex but the doctor is reasonably certain our little one is a little baby girl! She had her hand on her hip which is something my Mom and I do all the time, which is crazy. Brian said with that tendency and her stubbornness to turn around she had to be a girl like me. Now we anxiously await her arrival sometime around January 28th. In the meantime we will worry about all the pink accessories I now feel the sudden need to acquire! Thank you so much for your continued thoughts and prayers.

Bump Watch

Due to requests from Giselle and Kristen the bump watch continues. The last two weeks have been busy for all three of us Davies!

Brian has been busy getting the old sanctuary at church (Kaiser Hall) redone for the new contemporary service he is leading this fall. He has been working so hard and spending many hours there, but the payoff is coming. The sanctuary looks great and almost everything is in place for the September 9th start.

I had my first experience as a consultant and really enjoyed the experience, despite the 104 degree weather of Kansas City. I could talk about teaching and pedagogy all day so I think this job might be a good fit for me. The talking will turn to action soon as my school year starts on Tuesday. My mind is elsewhere, and my old clothes don't fit anymore, but going back will be a great distraction for the remaining half of my pregnancy.

Our little peanut is growing rapidly and has made me officially look pregnant. There is no hiding the bump any longer. A big milestone in the last week is that I have started to feel the baby's movements and kicks. I think our little one is quite the active guy or girl, which has been very fun. Speaking of guy or girl, the count down continues as to finding out the sex of the baby. 10 days left until our ultrasound Sept 5th. During which, hopefully, the baby will cooperate and we'll know if that movement in my tummy is from our little girl or little guy. Crazy! I think that word pretty much sums up this whole experience. We'll be sure to keep you updated on all big news in the future!

Nursery Pictures

We've been busy working the last several days on the nursery. My Mom and Katie came in and we had a lot of success. The color selection after five samples and much angst was Sherwin Williams Honeydew. I love how it came out. The glider and dresser we bought off of craigs list second hand, painted white, bought new material to cover the glider, and hardware for the dresser. That was our first foray into refinishing furniture and it was both fun and a success. When we find out in September whether it is a boy or girl we will accent the room appropriately with pink or blue. I also have some white shelves to hang and we are going to put the baby's name in white letters over the crib. This has been such fun and such excitement. As you can kind of see from the pictures the nursery was in terrible shape before. It was a lot of work so it was so nice to have help when we needed it! I am now off to Chicago, Kansas City, and Indianapolis to facilitate some three day training sessions for Carnegie Learning. Maybe Brian will put up a post in the meantime.

Church Blog

This fall Brian is heading up a new contemporary service St. Peter is offering Sunday mornings. There is quite a buzz and it seems like people are excited. I know Brian is. We started a blog for this service and we have some pictures from the remodeling of the old sanctuary where the new service will be held. If you feel like it you can check it out.

St. Peter Lutheran Amplified Worship

Washington D.C. trip

On Tuesday and Wednesday we flew to Washington D.C. to visit Brian's grandparents and Aunt and Uncle. It is always great to do a little sight seeing in the capitol and it was great to see the Washington D.C. contingent of Davies. Barbara made a great dinner and we enjoyed visiting with everyone. Barbara and Ken are great hosts and it was such fun to hear of and see pictures of their recent adventures. We saw pics of their new Boise home, their recent London trip, Ken's trip to Prague, and their family vacation to New England. They certainly don't let the grass grow under their feet.

Also while in D.C. we got to be guests at Brian's friend, Geoff Hunter's graduation. It was a great ceremony, tour of the facilities, and party afterward. It was wonderful to be able to be a part of such a special day for Geoff, Giselle, and their wonderful families. Everyone was so proud of Geoff for his accomplishment and we certainly share the sentiment. Best wishes to Geoff and Giselle in their new chapter of life to take place in San Francisco. Another great place to visit! We have video below to share.

Bump Watch

We had visitors from Minnesota this weekend, the Nixon Family. We spent some great time together. While they were here I was a little tired maybe due to the activity, but maybe due to the little growth spurt that seems to have taken place in my belly over just the last week!

Michigan Visitors!

From Tuesday to Friday my Mom and my brother, Michael, came for a whirlwind visit. They brought some baby stuff from Chicago that my Mom has been "collecting" for us and, we were on a quest for some additional pieces. We found a dresser that Brian and Mike refinished over the two days (thanks guys), and a glider that has yet to be redone. We had a great time together and their visit and help was much appreciated. We look forward to their return in early August with Katie to finish cleaning and painting our second floor.
We also had a short but great visit with Giselle on Sunday. She was flying through Detroit on her way between Toledo and San Francisco and stopped for a little two hour visit. It was great to see her and have her see our house and set-up in Michigan. I think she was a little surprised with how much baby stuff we have already, but I guess that's just us. Thanks so much for the visits we LOVED them!

Ann Arbor Art Fair- Not in Detroit Anymore

Last Saturday Brian and I ventured to the Ann Arbor Art fair. It is a nationally recognized fair and about an hour from our house. It was a gorgeous day as most of our summer days have been. We did not make any purchases but certainly enjoyed seeing the different mediums of artistic expression. It also struck us how different the crowd and atmosphere was at this cultural event as oppossed to the Detroit city fest. We took a video to highlight the contrast.

Baby on the Way

The news is officially out. Brian and I are going to have a baby! The due date is January 28th (right around the Bear's upcoming superbowl win.) I am now 13 weeks along and feeling pretty well. We heard the heartbeat at 11 weeks and everything is going well. Our baby is now about the size of a lime and my belly has grown quite a bit to accomodate it comfortably. It is great news and we are so excited. We are probably going to find out if it is a boy or girl in our September doctor's appointment. Thanks for everyone's excitement and support thus far.

Friends' Wedding 2007

For each of the past few summers Brian's close high school friends have "taken turns" getting married. With Chris and Annette's past, the finale of friends' weddings has come and gone and it was quite the final act. Brian's high school friend, Chris, and his beautiful bride, Annette, were married July 13th in the Albany area during a beautiful outdoor ceremony which Brian officiated. The night was capped off by a very fun reception. The personalities of Chris and Annette truly came out through the wedding choices as did their love for each other. It was great to be a part of the evening. The only sad part is that such occasions for us to all get together are coming to a close. I think we'll just have to try a little harder now. Friends Vacation 2008?

Michigan Sunsets

One of the interesting things about living in Michigan is the late and great sunsets we experience. Being this far west in the eastern time zone we still have traces of sunlight even at 10:00pm. Also with the flat farm land, we have big skies which make a great canvass for some great sunsets. The other night was particularly spectacular and Brian got a few pictures of the sun setting over St. Peter. Tomorrow we are off to Albany for Chris Gerber's wedding weekend. I'm sure we'll have a great story to share upon our return.

We're not in Norridge/Delmar any more!

Last night Brian and I went with some friends to the Detroit City Fest. It was kind of like a taste of Detroit with live music. We had a blast! The two couples we went with, we met on vacation in the Dominican Republic. They are life long Michiganders and know everything that's going on in Detroit. We are really glad they invited us it was quite an experience. Detroit is so diverse, and there were booths that had tons of local food from Greek, to Lebanese, to Ethiopian, to Polish, and much more. I had a Gyro, hummus, and Italian Ice and enjoyed all three. Brian who is very careful in making his selections had hummus and BBQ ribs. We passed on the deep-fried Mars bars and the 1 lb "Oh my God" hamburger. We settled in by one of the plazas and listened to a jazz singer and caught up with each other. While we were walking through the stands we encountered the Rap pavilion, and it totally reminded us that we were in D-town and not the homogeneous Norridge or Delmar any longer. Brian took video below to capture the memory, and I'm glad he did it was a really fun night.

Honey-Do-List

We had a great and relaxing fourth of July. Brian and I used the extra day to continue doing work around our house and had our own little barbeque together. We have been doing quite a lot around the parsonage, but the end of major home improvements is in sight. One of the things that has always bothered Brian and I were our dinged up garage doors. Brian painted them recently and what an improvement! I am almost embarrassed to post the before picture because it looks so bad, but I guess it is telling that we had about a year's worth of more pressing matters to get to first. Anyway, we are making progress and this old property is really turning into quite a gem.

Vacation Excursions

While on our family vacation, we went on a couple of excursions. Katie's dream in life was always to be a dolphin trainer so the swim with the dolphins was a no-brainer. Katie, Mike, and Brian got 50 minutes of time in the water with the dolphins who were really friendly and interactive. The boys also chartered a boat and took it 45 minutes south of Cancun where they went deep sea fishing. They caught a barracuda, a sail fish, and a mahi mahi(dolphin fish). The waves were pretty rocky and they got sea sick for a while but ultimately had a great time. The video really tells the stories best. Enjoy!

Comerica Park

On Friday Brian and I ventured to Downtown Detroit for a Tigers Twins game. We picked up some pretty good lower box seats at a pretty good price from some scalpers. I think the acquiring of the tickets may be one of Brian's favorite parts of the experience. Comerica Park is a really cool stadium similar to many of the other new stadiums with lots of unique open spaces to move around and watch the game from different view points. The game started out great with Verlander and Johan Santana pitching great games, but Verlander walked the bases loaded in the fourth and Joe Mauer hit a grand slam which was pretty much the end of the game. After the game as the Tigers do for every Friday and Saturday night game there was a pretty good fireworks display. It wasn't Wrigley (go Cubs) but it was a great night.

Mexican Vacation

As a graduation gift and a celebration of having all three kids out of college, my Mom and Dad decided to take the family on a vacation. We went for 6 nights to the Riu Cancun. It was great. Wherever we would have gone, we would have had a great time because we were together but the blue ocean, white sand, and the non-stop food and drinks sure helped. It was a family vacation to remember. Thanks Mom and Dad, you're the best.

We have some more things to post later, but here are some of our shots.

CLICK HERE for vacations pictures.

Schools Out For Summer

Today was officially my last day of school for the year. It feels so nice to be done for a little while. I think I was anticipating summer break even more than the kids. The 90 degree + rooms without air conditioning certainly didn't help things these last two weeks, but all in all it was a very successful school year. It will be nice to return to the same school next year and see the same students and colleagues again. My year may have started out tough, but turned into one of my favorites as a teacher. I am also excited to report that for the first time in my teaching career, I will be teaching the same subject as the previous year! Over the summer I look forward to tweaking my plans and adequately preparing for next school year, after I unwind a little of course. It will be so nice to have a summer where we aren't packing all of our belongings and moving to another state. I barely know what I will do with myself. On a very exciting note we're kicking off our summer with a celebratory college graduate vacation with the Bundalos. We are leaving tomorrow for Chicago and from there we will head to Mexico. A week on the beach is more than we could ask for, but with our family it will be perfect. Hopefully, we'll have lots of pictures to post when we return.

Snake Free! (Hopefully)

A couple of weeks ago I had an encounter with a rather large snake by the shed in our back yard. I tried very hard not to exaggerate in describing it to Brian as I told him it was as thick as a garden hose and about two feet long. I don't think he quite believed me until today. After dinner I went to go water my garden and in a neat little coil on the sidewalk outside our shed was... The Snake. I yelled for Brian who came over with a shovel as The Snake tried to slither under the foundation of the shed. Brian valiantly hacked at the snake with the shovel severing it in two. He's my hero! One half of the snake is now hopefully dead under our shed and the other half is disposed of in the woods next to our house. When I asked him if it was as big as I described, he said The Snake was actually about 4 feet in length and certainly as thick as a garden hose! Creepy. I just hope this snake was the only one, that we don't have a nest of snakes under our shed, that this particular snake is not a poisonous variety, and that snakes are not like worms and can regrow severed parts. Now it is on to our mole or groundhog problem. We haven't quite decided yet what we're dealing with. I was feeling a little like Bill Murray in Caddy Shack today and I tried to flood out some of the tunnels as I watered. Every where I turned though I thought I saw another snake. I was still a little jittery from earlier. I actually feel I have been extremely brave during all of our critter escapades here in Michigan, but I have to admit not as brave as Brian, now the Great Snake Hunter.

After googling Michigan snakes here is the info I found. I believe our friend was an Eastern Garter Snake.

NY Trip

Brian and I are back from New York and had a great time! We flew to Albany on Wednesday night and got to spend all day with Wa, Linda, and the Libuttis. We got to swim during the day, Brian got to play BLC softball, we had a small birthday party for Cheryl, and we had a sleep over with Michaela. On Friday it was off to New York for Michael and now Jaimie Libutti's wedding. It was a great party, and we had a great time visiting and celebrating. Check out Cheryl's Blog for some great pictures of the evening. The girls were just adorable! Jenna and Michaela were both dancing up a storm. The pictures above and below are from Cheryl opening her presents.

Memorial Day Weekend

This past holiday weekend Brian and I traveled to Chardon, Ohio just outside Cleveland for Brian's college roommate, Larry's ordination. It was a really special occasion. Larry's family hosted us and as always their hospitality was exceptional. We also had the pleasure of meeting Larry's new fiance, Eden, who he met in Colorado. She seems like a truly special person and a great match for Larry. I just hope we didn't bore her with too many Concordia stories. Brian delivered the message at the ordination which, in my opinion, was very good. After the Saturday service Roy and Linda traveled back with us to Michigan where we did more outside work and spent some great time together. Occasions, such as this weekend, and visits certainly make being away from friends and family much easier to handle. Consider that an open invitation to all! I will close now as we are just about to leave for the airport to catch our flight to Albany, where Brian is preaching at Michael Libutti and Jamie Irving's wedding--update to follow.

A Little Bit Country

We have been doing a lot of work on the parsonage property lately. I am actually taking a time out as I've developed an allergic reaction from one of the many renegade vines we've been clearing from the property. Plus I'm avoiding the two foot long snake we've sighted in one of our beds! Brian, however, was part of a major project. We had some dead trees that needed to be removed. Thankfully, an expert in whatever area needed can be found among the people at St. Peter. Yesterday four members, one of whom owns a tree service, took down four of our dying trees. For two city kids the idea of doing this on your own is really bizarre, but these four guys were cool as cucumbers- throwing back miller lites, revving chain saws, predicting the place of landing for the tree, and sitting idly by as the tree fell a few yards from their feet. In the video below of one falling, notice Duane Betcher sitting coolly on the stump as their latest conquest bites the dust. Thanks guys!
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

The Confirmation Crawl

This weekend was confirmation at St. Peter. There were about sixty-five 8th graders that took part. There were 5 services that the students could get confirmed at and Brian was busy preaching, helping, and taking many group pictures throughout the weekend. Bri was able to establish some great relationships with the kids and really enjoyed teaching them. On Saturday night and Sunday afternoon we were able to stop at about 7 parties which were all very nice but collectively pretty overwhelming. For me it is especially tricky because everyone knows Brian, and through Brian, me. However, I am generally not nearly as comfortable with names and faces as Brian. I don't have the daily or even monthly contact with members that Brian does because St. Peter is such a large church. Thus, I have developed a catch-all phrase for those tricky introductions where you are not certain if this is the first time you have met someone or a repeat. I'm pretty proud of it as it took many awkward meetings to get it down. "Good to see you." Not "good to see you again", not "good to meet you", just "good to see you". It takes a lot of discipline to stop just after the "see you" but I have found it very effective. I suggest its use should the awkward occasion arise. I was able to use my "good to see you" line a good deal this weekend. The confirmation parties were individually very nice. It was great to see people in their homes, with their family, and in their element. We'll see how we approach the confirmation party crawl next year, but for year one we didn't too bad.

HGTV Cindy-Style

To continue our MI tradition of being out of town, Brian spent all of last week in Juarez Mexico on a mission trip. He went with people from church and they built from the ground-up a small home for a family of 4. It was an awesome experience. While he was gone my Mom came and stayed with me. Neither my mom nor I are ones to let the grass grow under our feet so we decided to tackle the big job of the landscaping around the parsonage. The landscaping had not been tended to in many years and was in serious need of an overhaul. Every time I walked outside and looked at it I was overwhelmed.

My Mom and I are often quite ambitious in our projects, and we especially like the opportunity for a big reveal when all our work is done (I guess it's from too much reality TV.) When I was in high school my Mom and I painted our entire Chicago bungalow while my Dad, Katie, and Mike were in Canada fishing. With Brian gone we had great motivation to finish before he returned. My Mom was awesome! She has such a knack for gardening and is so resourceful. We pretty much went non-stop for the week, and are very happy with the finished product. In fact, my Mom and I were finishing things up right until our company arrived on Saturday. Brian was truly impressed, and he and I are so excited to have a neat looking outside. We are so appreciative of her help. To cap off the weekend my Dad and Katie joined us for a surprise visit for Mother's Day. It was all just great!

Graduates!

Another weekend past and another spent outside the state of Michigan! This weekend my sister Katie graduated from Concordia University of Chicago, and I was able to travel and celebrate with my family. We also celebrated with Michael who is graduating from Illinois State University next weekend. They are both majoring in education, Katie in Math and Michael in English. Go figure, three teachers in one family. It was a nice ceremony, and we had an excellent celebration dinner at an old Bundalo family favorite Sabatino's. It has great Italian food and is so old-school the menus and pictures on the wall haven't changed since my Mom worked there 25 years ago. My parents are very excited to have all three of us done with college. We will continue the celebration at their dual graduation party June 9th and in a family trip planned for this summer. Congratulations on the hard work Katie and Mike!

Flickr Pictures

I have uploaded our digital pictures from the Party to our flickr site. They are pretty much the same as the photobucket pictures, but if you wanted another possibly easier format to view them, they're up there. It was such fun, and it is so nice to have some pictures to have captured parts of the evening.
Wa's Party Pictures, Click Here!

Wa's Surprise Party

On Thursday Brian and I flew to NY to help celebrate his Dad's Surprise Birthday. Linda and Cheryl worked very hard at putting the details of the party together and it was a major success. Roy or Wa as we have fondly nick-named him was totally surprised. It took him a while to realize he wasn't at Brian Strauss's birthday like the previous month's subterfuge had suggested but his own 60th birthday party. The night and weekend itself was such fun. We got to catch up and celebrate with so many great people. Wa's brother, sister, and their spouses came from DC, and Brian and I tremendously enjoyed catching up with them. Linda and Wa had friends come from Pennsylvania and Virginia who made the evening special of course for Wa but also for Brian, Linda, Cheryl, Danny, and myself. At the party we were able to catch up with all the fantastic Delmar/NY area natives who we miss seeing on a more regular basis. Not to mention, we had fun enjoying the company of our nieces Jenna and Michaela whom we can never get enough of. The only downside of the evening was that it had to end! If we could have kept everyone around for 48 hours straight that might have been enough time. It really couldn't have been a more perfect night or weekend. Happy Birthday Wa and thanks for the great night in your honor.

Honoring a Hero

Brian and I have returned from New York where we celebrated Roy's 60th birthday with a surprise party. I will post more on this later as I get the pictures going. It was a wonderful party and great to see everyone. While we were in Albany, we also got to participate in a memorial 5k that honored Timothy Moshier, a West Point graduate and high school classmate of Brian's that died in combat in Iraq. The Saturday race was a benefit for his infant daughter and funded a scholarship in his honor. A good high school friend of Brian, Erin, spent a lot of time helping put this race together. Brian and I also got to see another of Bri's high school buds, Mark, who was great company for the little-over three mile run. Wa even joined in the act and gave the walkers a run for their money. It was a privilege to run and to say thanks in any way for what Tim gave for our country and our freedom. It was a little overwhelming to put a personal story to all those we hear in the media each day. It is hard to be numb to a grieving widow pushing their infant in a stroller. No doubt he is a hero whose life and legacy will be remembered by many. You can check out his memorial website below. www.timothyjmoshier.com

Eyes to see the Blessings

Being married to Brian is definitely the best thing that has ever happened to me. I have never doubted this for a moment of my existence. Uprooting every year for the past four has been exciting, enriching, but on occasion tough personally. At times it has been hard to see God's hand and purpose in continually making and leaving new friends, in acclimating to new schools and then restarting in new districts year after year, and in living geographically away from every person I call friend. Part of me could view all of this moving as a huge sacrifice and to be honest at times there are parts of me that do. Thankfully, God has not let these weak doubting parts of my character fester very long. I am thankful He is working on me and giving me eyes to see the blessings. Let me elaborate.

When we started our seminary journey I knew that our objective was to progress Brian's career and get him through seminary. All I wanted was to get a job in order to pay the bills. I had no idea I would get a job in what I think is the best school district in the country, receive multitudes of training on the best cutting edge teaching techniques, and forever change my attitude and beliefs on education. I didn't understand the blessing that moving to St. Louis was to me. I could have never left Chicago and taught in an above average suburban district never even knowing what more I could have been experiencing. Now, I almost feel like God intended more for me to be in St. Louis than Brian.

When we got the call to Michigan I didn't have eyes to see the blessings either. Leaving my awesome district in St. Louis, the tough job market in MI, and the challenges I face teaching in Detroit were easy for me to dwell on. You think I would have learned from the St. Louis experience that God always has a plan. Doubt is just so subtle sometimes and can sneak back in so quickly. Luckily, God is starting to change my perspective again. The past few months have been a whirlwind for me professionally and none of them would have happened had I not lived in St. Louis, taught at Maplewood, moved to Detroit, and gotten a job in Macomb County.

In St. Louis I received tremendous experience with a program called Cognitive Tutor Algebra I by Carnegie Learning. It is a new, revolutionary Math curriculum that has a very sophisticated software component, and in my opinion is everything that we need to change the Mathematics achievement gap in our country. The county that I live in is one of four counties in the country to receive a federal grant to conduct a study of the effectiveness of this curriculum. My experience with the actual program, the other training I received at Maplewood, and my connections now made in Macomb County have put me in the position to be the county wide Curriculum Implementation Specialist for Carnegie Learning and train other area teachers on the curriculum.

A daunting task certainly for a 26 year old, but one I could not pass up. I will write more about my recent company training experience in Pittsburgh later, as I'm still processing it. There are just too many events that had to string together to make this opportunity happen for me that I'm certain it's a God thing. I am just thankful for the eyes to see that it is exactly that, a God thing.

Wings Game

One thing we're learning about Detroit-- It is a big sports town!
One thing we're learning about being a part of St. Peter-- The people are very generous, and once they find out you enjoy something they go out of your way to indulge you!

For instance, The Zilinskis are a wonderful new family to St. Peter with two pre-school aged boys and a new baby girl. When they learned of Brian and my interest in sporting events they invited us to go to a Wings game with them. Being that I have never been to a live hockey game I didn't quite know what to expect. However, I like sports and seeing new things, so I'm in. Brian is super excited the whole time. Well, we had an absolute blast! Hockey truly is one sport that TV just doesn't capture. We had great seats and great company in a 1-0 win for the Wings over Anaheim. I even found my self cheering for a fight that erupted at the end of a period and was on the edge of my seat as the Wings stopped numerous Anaheim power plays. Maybe the Wings can be the Detroit team we call our own. After all, we don't have a hockey team yet. I'm not quite sure about this though, my cousin Ginger, an avid Blackhawks fan, might disown me. It was a great night and a generous gift from our new friends the Zilinskis. (I wish we had taken a picture of the four of us to post, but the one of Brian and I will have to do.)

Our Snowy "Spring" Break

I read a great quote in the Wit and Wisdom section of the magazine we subscribe to,The Week."Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of 10 people couldn't start a converstaion." -- Kin Hubbard United Press

Well, I wonder how many conversations were started by the weather this week. It's giving me something to blog about. Actually, Brian and I had a great spring break despite the crazy weather. We got a light dusting of snow in Michigan for Easter and then about 6 inches in Chicago after. We managed to have a great time despite the weather. Besides, we could always jump in the house if we got too cold, and my Mom supplied us with fresh tea and coffee. We were not roughing it. After the initial snowfall, the fish were pretty active and we caught about 12 one evening.

The trip was a great visit with family, but we hope the weather is better next time. In the midwest you learn this next saying all too well. If you don't like the weather, wait a week. Hopefully its wisdom will come to fruition. It has been a long winter...

Spring Break

I am enjoying a nice relaxing spring break week in Chicago. Sleeping in, taking jacuzzi baths, bargain shopping with my Mom, eating good meals of course, and a little fishing with my Dad. I caught the first fish of the season as you can see in the posted picture, though my Dad did have to take it off of the hook. Brian is coming to Chicago tomorrow and hopefully we will catch lots more. Chicago is always fun even though the weather is often from tropical.

Great Visit!

Last weekend we had Wa and Linda in D-Town for a little visit. It was great. They drove in on Thursday and departed on Monday. Brian's day off is Friday, so they got to spend all day together. Friday night we went to my school where I played in a faculty basketball game vs. the junior high teachers. The high school staff did not represent well and we lost. That will probably be my last full court basketball game. The aches in my knee the next day confirmed that I am officially retiring. It was very fun though. Brian and I are also losing our reputation for tiring out our company. Since we have a house and not a tiny apartment, we actually enjoy spending time at home. We had a leisurely Saturday and Sunday with shopping, church, an excellent brunch, dinners at home, and of course participating in the Davies' family tradition of coloring Easter Eggs. It was great! We hope they come back soon.

Back from Atlanta

I am back from my NCTM conference and it was wonderful. Professionally, I picked up some great material to take back to my classroom. I went to sessions on closing the achievement gap, cooperative learning in the math classroom, modeling functions in Algebra, how to help at risk learners, and many other interesting sessions. Personally, it was so nice to be back with old friends from my previous Math department. They are all doing well and we had a great time together, as you can see from the pictures. For a bunch of math nerds we have a fun time. According to my old department you would think the gender issue in math was the other way around. I hope Steve didn't feel too out numbered. My old colleagues are great people and excellent teachers. It was fun and inspiring to be with them again.