Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

We're up in Ann Arbor for the long weekend spending time with my family. Right now, it's just Jody, me and Charlie at my parents' place. But my sister and her family and my brother are all getting in before dinner tonight. It's been nice and quiet so far, but we're totally excited to see everyone, especially Edin and Adam who we haven't see since this summer.

For now, though, we have a lot to be thankful for this year. And most of all we're so thankful for our amazing families and friends. We hope you all enjoy the holiday.

Happy eating!

Spa Girls

This past weekend my mom, sister and I went to Phoenix for our annual spa trip. For the past four years, the three of us go down there during the summer for a weekend of relaxation and Mirel Girl time. This year, we had to keep pushing our trip back and finally made it down there for the first time in the winter. It was a total treat to get away from the cold for the weekend and to be in Arizona when it wasn't blistering hot.

We normally stay at Camelback Resort, which is an awesome place nestled in the mountains. But, this year with all of our plan-changing we ended up staying a new place: Fire Sky Resort. It was also a nice place, but not quite as secluded as Camelback. Still, we couldn't complain. It had a nice pool area, a yummy restaurant and all the free coffee and tea we wanted in the mornings.

Mostly we did a lot of relaxing, lounging at the pool, eating good meals and just hanging out with each other. All in all, a great trip. It was so much fun to get some quality time with just my mom and sister before we get together with the whole family this coming weekend for Thanksgiving. I'm going to be so spoiled spending two weekends in a row with my sister and mom.

(No, I did not take the picture posted above. I actually didn't take any pictures all weekend, unfortunately.)

Four-Legged Pretzel

Every day it seems like Charlie finds some new, wacky way to sleep. I guess it makes sense when you sleep about 18-20 hours a day that you'd want to try out some different positions. But, it's crazy. I swear, our dog is part pretzel.

Maybe I'm just jealous because I'm so sick of sleeping on my side, but I'm totally entertained by Charlie's twisted nap moves. I just don't get how he can be in such a deep sleep when his head is facing one way and his body is going in a completely opposite direction (see above). Or when he is flat on his back playing dead and fast asleep for like an hour and a half. Or when he jams his head into the weirdest places and sleeps among our crazy mess of TV/stereo/DVD wires in the family room. Or when he smooshes himself up against a wall even though he has plenty of room to sprawl out.

When Jody's not home, I always take pictures of Charlie in his bizarro sleeping poses so Jody can be as entertained as I am. Yes, I am going to be quite a camera-happy mommy, aren't I? Let's just hope the baby doesn't get any ideas from his/her doggy brother.

Double Digits, Baby!

Yesterday we hit a milestone with the baby countdown: we're in the double digits with only 98 more days to go! I'm sure as it gets closer we'll start feeling all the different emotions involved in becoming parents. But, for now we're just excited.

Throughout the pregnancy people have been asking me if I've been having any weird cravings, and mostly I haven't. I've been eating the same way I always have, just a little bit more. But lately, I've been wanting different junk food that I haven't eaten since I was a kid. It's really weird, though, it's like as I grow a child, I am reverting back to foods I ate as a child. I don't really eat much junk food. It's been hard for Jody to live with me since he is the snacky king. So I think he's liking this new bad-for-us-snacky stage of pregnancy. Here are the different kid-foods that I've been craving:

* Kraft Macaroni and Cheese: I was dying for mac-and-cheese, so I made it for dinner a couple weeks ago. And you know what? It was way better as a kid. I was seriously disappointed. It was totally spongy, the powdery cheese grossed me out, and the heartburn that followed pretty much guaranteed that this craving won't be returning any time soon.

* Teddy Grahams: I loved these as a kid and a couple months ago we went to three different stores to find the flavors I liked. At the Halsted Dominick's I found honey; the Roosevelt Dominick's had cinnamon; and Target had chocolate chip. All that store hopping was totally worth it. (Well,it was for me...just don't ask Jody what he thought about all this running around.) They were just as good as I remembered them to be. But, eventually I got sick of them. Now we just have one lone box of stale cinnamon Teddys in our pantry.

* Potato chips: Much to Jody's dismay, I pretty much banned chips years ago, give or take some Hint of Lime Tostidos every now and then. It's not that I don't like them; it's just that I eat too much when we have them. So it's better to have them out of sight. However, the other day when I was at jury duty I decided my afternoon treat would be a trip to the vending machine for potato chips. Since I got called onto an actual jury, I missed my afternoon snack. And since then I have been craving those chips. Jody went out and bought me Cape Cod potato chips and Ruffles the other day and made me so happy. I still don't have much self-control with the chips, but, hey, it's for the baby. Can't deny the little guy/girl, right?

* Chocolate-covered graham crackers: These were one of my all-time favorite things as a kid and I haven't had them since I was probably 12. But I have really been wanting them lately. When Jody was on his chip run the other night, he looked everywhere for Keebler chocolate-covered grahams and they were nowhere to be found. Sad. I don't even know if they exist anymore, but I may have to hit up the big Dominick's on Roosevelt to see if they still exist. In the meantime, if anyone knows where I can get some, do share.

Since the mac-and-cheese and Teddy Graham cravings passed, I'm guessing the chip and cookie ones will too. I just hope Jody doesn't get used to having junk food in the house because I'm going to feel really bad when I have to start banning it all again.

Liberty & Justice For All

First of all, sorry for being such a delinquent blogger. Things have been hectic around here. Jody got hit with a bout of food poisoning/stomach flu, I got a cold that I'm pretty sure is going to last the rest of the winter/pregnancy, and even Charlie is having issues. 'Tis the season for sickness, I suppose. Then this week, I had jury duty and actually got picked for a trial. Yup, I am two-for-two in being picked for jury duty. I'm really not sure why I get picked to be on juries, but I do. Even being the emotional, flighty pregnant lady didn't stop them from choosing me.

All in all, though, it wasn't too bad. The trial just ended today, so I am free to talk about it now. So here goes: This was a criminal trial at the Criminal Court on California, so the commute wasn't too bad. But serving on a criminal trial is tough. I served a few years ago on a civil trial in a wrongful death case, which was emotional and difficult because someone had died. But, finding someone guilty in a civil trial typically means that person has to pay a certain amount of money. In a criminal trial, a guilty verdict sends somone to prison--and for me that is a much bigger burden to bear.

The case we heard was against a man who had two prior felonies on his record and was allegedly caught carrying a gun (which is unlawful for a convicted felon). This charge would have been the defendent's third strike and they were going for a charge of "armed habitual criminal," which would have put the defendent back into prison. The case was seemingly simple at the beginning: three cops were doing routine patrol when they saw the defendent standing and talking outside an apartment building with two other people. The cops thought it looked suspicious so they pulled the car over, approached the apartment and said that they saw a gun in the defendent's hand. The defendent then supposedly ran into the apartment and dropped the gun in the garbage and the police arrested him.

The defendent then told a different story about how he was never outside, had never seen the gun before, was in the apartment that night, and was arrested for no apparent reason.

There were a lot of other details that I won't get into, but basically, the defendent's story made our jury doubt the prosecution's story. The prosecution didn't bring in any other witnesses besides the three officers, and showed us photos that actually hurt their case. The judge gave us our instructions, which were to determine if the prosecution delivered enough evidence against the defendent to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. And our jury just found too much reasonable doubt in the case. In the end, we found the guy not guilty.

Even though it's a pain in the butt, being on jury is pretty interesting. You get to be a crucial part of the American justice system and you really feel like you've done your civic duty. Also, you are stuck with your fellow jurors for a quite a lot of time, which gives you a chance to get to know and understand people from all walks of life.

Although I feel pretty good about our jury's decision, I'm not sure any juror leaves the courtroom feeling 100% good or bad about a verdict. The thing is, you just never really know the true story and it does you no good to second guess yourself. I mean, who knows, maybe this guy really was guilty and we put a dangerous criminal back on the streets of Chicago. Or maybe we were right and he was not guilty and instead we gave this guy the chance he deserves to get his life turned around. I'd like to think it was the latter, but I suppose I'll never know.

Mr. & Mrs. Keckley

Congratulations to Beth and Jeff! They got married this weekend and held one hell of a party to celebrate. It was such a fun weekend and I am only now starting to recover.

The wedding was awesome. Beth looked gorgeous and really was glowing all day long. The two of them did almost all the planning themselves and put a personal touch on everything. And it totally paid off. They held the wedding on the North Side at Architectural Artifacts, which is a pretty incredible place. Upstairs there was an entire gallery of artifacts ranging from chandeliers to anciet swords (Jody liked those a lot!) from a bunch of different continents. Each piece had an explanation of where the item was from and a (usually pretty hefty) price tag. During the cocktail hour, many of the guests were exploring all the treasures upstairs.

The reception itself was so much fun. The dancefloor was always packed, the band was great and the bride and groom were definitely soaking it all in. The weekend was extra special because Courtney and Jeremy and Connie and Nick all came in from out of town, so we got to have a big slumber party at our place all weekend. The three of us and our significant others are rarely all together now that Court's in Louisville and Connie's in New York, so it's always a treat when we are together.

The wedding was a total Naperville Central reunion, with a ton of the high school crew coming out to celebrate Beth and Jeff. People often make fun of me for speaking so highly of Naperville, but seriously it's all about the people we grew up with. It's a fun group and it's always a blast to hang with them. Thanks to Beth for always finding ways to bring us all together.

For many of the partygoers--namely, the crew staying at our place--the highlight was the shipment of sliders that arrived around 11.15 pm. Needless to say, Jody was thrilled. He even tipped the bartender with sliders! This was also Nick's first experience with White Castle. And he actually liked it...a lot. Personally, I'm not sure I approve of this pattern of White Castle being part of our past two visits with Courtney and Jeremy, so I may have to put a stop to this next time we see them!

For me, the best part of the entire weekend was seeing one of my oldest and closest friends so genuinely happy and in love. Seriously, I could not have imagined a better person for Beth to end up with than Jeff. He's such a sweet, fun and caring guy, and I am so happy he's officially part of our little Naperville family now. Beth has been one of my best friends for more than half my life, and she is an amazing person and a true friend. Jeff is quite lucky to have her. In the years that I have gotten to know Jeff, I know Beth's just as lucky to have him too.

Cick here to check out the album from the whole weekend.

Congrats again to the happy couple! We can't wait to hear all about your adventures in Australia when you get back.

It Feels Good

Today is a good day. Last night's historic Obama victory was amazing. I thought it was just the baby making me weepy, but after talking to several other people today, I realize I was not alone in the tears.

I mean, even the Hoosiers went blue (the first time since 1964). I already had a soft spot for Indiana thanks to IU, but now I am extra proud of our corn-loving neighbors. I was hoping Josh would help pull off the blue in Montana, but, hey, it was close there too, which is still pretty cool.

I wish we could have gone down to the rally last night at Grant Park, but it was cool watching Chicago on TV and knowing that eyes all over the world were looking upon our beautiful city with pride. Seriously, the city looked awesome, and I am so proud of all Chicagoans for keeping their cool and just having a genuine celebration.

I cannot wait to see what happens next. Although most people around me were Obama and/or Hillary supporters throughout this long race, I know there are a few of you out there who weren't. But no matter who you voted for, you gotta admit, there is a buzz in the air today that we haven't felt in a long time. Change is a-comin'. Let the countdown to Jan. 20, 2009 begin...

(These rally pictures are from DeAnne, who went down there last night. Thanks for sharing, D!)

Barack the Vote

Just a quick reminder to everyone to get out there and vote today. Don't let the long lines discourage you. It's worth it.

Jody and I went to our local Salvation Army gymnasium this morning after the before-work crowd and we got in and out in about 10 minutes. There was so much good energy flowing through the gym among all the workers and the voters; it was all pretty cool. After such a long campaign season, so many emotions running through this election, and so much at stake today, it felt awesome to actually get out there and cast our ballots. Plus, I got my free "I voted" Starbucks decaf, and I'm hanging on to my receipt to get my free yoga class at Bloom later this week.

Now I'm preparing for a long night in front of the TV, biting my nails, crossing my fingers, and holding onto hope that our country has learned its lesson from the past 8 excruciating years.

Update: Just saw this clip online and I thought it was a good one to share. As the folks at TPM said, this will get you charged up: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/242707.php