IT'S A BOY!!!!

Here is the profile

Here is one of his feet. He doesn't have 18 toes, he is just wiggling.

Here is his face. I know, it looks creepy.

Steve and I went to our first ultrasound today to see a little boy wiggling and moving and punching and sucking. At least, that is what the radiologist was saying. I couldn't really see anything. I did count 5 fingers on each hand though and he does have a spine, two legs and two arms, and feet. Here is our first baby picture.

Sewing is Fun

Last night I bought a new sewing machine at Costco. It is the most exciting thing ever. It's a Singer Model 4661. It comes with 10 different feet, it does 60 different stitches including 5 different button holes. You can set the speed to sew fast or slow (or something in between). It has a start/stop button on the machine so you don't have to hook up the presser foot if you don't want to. It has a contraption to thread the needle for you. You can set it so the needle stops in the down position or the up position. The best part is, it only cost $179.99. For all of you looking for a fun new sewing machine, I highly recommend this.

If anyone would like my old sewing machine, which is not nearly as exciting, let me know and I will give it to you free of charge.

Practice for Paris

Jennfier & Kelly at Crepe Cafe
The Mathletes at Crepe Cafe

The funny crosswalk guy in Vancouver, BC.

My sister and her husband visited us for a quick Labor Day weekend. We love it when people come out to visit becuase it's a good excuse to finally do all those touristy things we rarely do. Of course we checked out the Olympic Sculpture Park-my new favorite thing about Seattle, ate a lot of food, and walked all over the place.

After dropping the Brother-in-Law off at the airport we drove up to Vancouver, BC. Kelly and I love Vancouver, and if a certain ultra-conservative candidate and his sidekick are elected in November we may be moving up there.



Anyway, I digress. Sure, you can argue that Canada is basically the U.S., but their signs are in French and English. Plus, you have to show a passport and go through customs to get there. We practiced our French by reading the signs and pretending to order our crepes in French. Well, when I say "we" practiced, I really mean that "I" practiced my French. Jennifer and Kelly didn't seem interested in playing my bi-lingual games.



We stopped and had lunch at our favorite crepe place on Robson Street. Kelly ordered the most amazing Nutella and coconut crepe, while Jennifer and I had the banana and Nutella version. Besides crepes, we did a lot of window shopping in Yaletown and Robson. Unfortunatley, the US dollar isn't what it used to be against the Canadian dollar, so it wasn't the usual bargain shopping extravaganza that we're used to in Vancouver.



Kelly and I had a great time with Jennifer and Brad. We love having family visit and showing them our beautiful corner of the world.

Greek Bulgur Salad with Chicken

This recipe is one of my favorite go-to meals because it is quick, hearty, healthy, and delicious. Sometimes I don't add chicken to make it vegetarian and I never add the olives (I don't like olives), but try it out and experiment with what you like.
One other thing. The recipe I'm about to share makes 10 servings. I always half the recipe.

41/2 c. water
3 c. uncooked medium bulgur
3/4 c. fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons) divided
2 tsp. salt, divided
21/2 c. chopped skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast
2 c. halved grape tomatoes
1 c. chopped fresh parsley
1/2 c. thinly sliced fresh basil
1/2 c. finely chopped red onion
1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. black pepper
10 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

1. Combine water, bulgur, 1/2 cup juice, and 1 tsp. salt in a large saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Uncover and cool to room temperature. (I don't cool to room temperature because I'm usually in a hurry. I also like that the warm bulgur melts the cheese a bit)

2. Combine remaining 1/4 c. juice, remaining 1 tsp. salt, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; toss to combine. Add cooled bulgur mixture; toss well to combine. Cover and chill.

For documenting purposes, this recipe came from Cooking Light magazine, March 2006.

Live from Denver, it's Monday Night...

Ok, so I'm not in Denver, but I did watch the beginning of the Democratic National Convention last night. I took 2 things away from last night's speeches.

1. Michelle Obama gave an amazing, emotional, and moving speech. You can watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=790hG6qBPx0&feature=PlayList&p=326408EAF22B2E31&index=4
I don't understand how the Republicans have managed to paint the Obamas as "elitist snobs". The Obamas come from very humble roots and worked their up to where they are now. Why is that a bad thing? I thought we are supposed to look up to people like that, not trash them for success.

2. I was impressed the the Dems didn't come out swinging and attacking John McCain. A stark contrast to how I am sure the GOP convention will be next week. The Dems could have started their convention by trashing and bashing, but they didn't. Instead, they focused on the commons values of all Americans. I am sure that as the week progresses the Dems will be more aggressive towards McCain, but it was a nice start to the Convention.

Seriously, if you haven't seen Michelle Obama's speech, you need to watch it. It was amazingly simple, well said, and inspirational.

Only 3 more nights of DNC fun. Tonight's main event: Hillary Clinton...should be "interesting".

Cheeeeese

On Wednesday, I went to a class about cheese. I had no idea there was so much to learn about. Generally, cheese comes in soft, semi-soft, hard, and blue. The blue cheeses stand on their own because there is usually some penicillian or something like that added to it to help it bloom. The weirdest thing I learned...some cheeses are bathed in urine. Unfortunately, I don't know what ones those are. My favorite cheeses that I tried were the Israeli Brie cheese and the Pecorino Romano (spelling???). They were fantastic. I can't wait to go to France!!

The good side of pollution

Last weekend was hot and miserable in Seattle. Plus, there was no breeze and it was relatively humid, which led to something unusual for Seattle: smog.

The days were unbearably hot. No one could sleep because it was too hot to get comfortable. But, on the bright side, the sunsets were amazing. The smog filtered sunsets had just the right shades of pink. I tried to capture Friday's sunset with my phone's camera. It was one of those moments when I remembered why I love living in Seattle.

Luckily, the heat wave is over and we're back to rainy and 60-degree weather...that's how summer should be.