24 Weeks

Here are a couple of pics of my belly.  Also my new haircut!  Not sure about the bangs...I always think I want them and when I get them I'm not so sure.  I feel like my face looks much fuller, but maybe that's the haircut and not the pregnancy.  

I need therapy!

So I got kicked out of Physical Therapy yesterday!  Actually I'm exaggerating a little...they recommended that I cancel the rest of my appointments because they didn't feel like they could be of any help to me.  Which is probably true.  But now what?  The physical therapist is going to call my OB and recommend that I work some type of restricted schedule, or at least work light duty.  I've never heard of light duty in retail!  Maybe corporate retail, but there is nothing light about my job!

I do think I may have FINALLY found a crib.  It's not too expensive, it converts into a toddler and a full size bed, and it may or may not come in the finish I want.  I found it at a local baby store that takes Ba.bies R U.s coupons, but my problem is that all the coupons I have exclude special orders, and if I can get the finish I want it will have to be ordered.  So if anyone has any coupons lying around that don't state a special order exclusion feel free to send them my way!

Breast Cancer Awareness Cyclocross results...

Wonder of wonders, the results (if you take a look at this link, I competed in Cat 4) from this past Saturday's Breast Cancer Awareness Cyclocross Challenge in Hagerstown, MD were posted yesterday, and I did better than I thought. While my performance was nothing to be proud of, I did not finish last, second to last, or even third to last. In the end I finished in 37th place out of 50 riders who started and 46 who finished. I was still lapped by the winner, second, and third place finishers (and possibly even more of the top finishers) twice though. As I said before, it was a great learning experience and I had a fantastic time.

Lessons to take away from this - 1)Use proper tire pressure, 2)Ride the full couse at least once before the start of the race, 3)If there is a switchback right after the barriers, run around it and then remount - rather than remounting, crashing into the course tape, and then remounting again.

Lars

Nesting the Nursery, Part 1

As we near the third trimester of our pregnancy, Ami has kicked into nesting mode. I had really wanted to be back in Baton Rouge for the birth of our son, but time is quickly passing and it is obvious that we must begin making some preparations. So, we picked out paint for the nursery on Saturday, painted a test patch on the wall yesterday (you can see it in the photo - the manufacturer calls it Ice Box, but I think most people would call it Robin's Egg), and began to do some serious cleaning and organizing last night. The room that used to be our guest bedroom will become the nursery, and Ami has evicted my art projects and our scuba gear from the room that was a sort-of studio so that it can become a guest bedroom. I hope we can expect additional visitors since we have had relatively few since we have been here (but those that have come to see us have been extremely appreciated) and don't want to do all of this re-arranging of rooms for nothing, not withstanding the fact that I understand the nursery is a necessity. I'll post again as we make further progress.

Lars

Some Cyclocross Races

I have wanted to compete in Cyclocross ever since I first saw it years ago, and I finally decided this would be the year to do so. I thought it might be a good idea to watch a race in person first and attended the Ed Sander Memorial Cyclocross on September 28th. The race is held annually at the beautiful Lilypons Water Gardens in Adamstown, MD - an aquatic water garden nursery.




The conditions were perfect for the race as it had been raining for several days, finally clearing up that morning.







The winner in Category 4, which is the "novice category" or the category which I will compete in, was Alex Driscoll racing with Adventures for the Cure.








Another competitor that I actually raced against and was beaten by the next weekend was 14 year-old (I think) Justin Mauch racing with National Capital Velo Club.











This past weekend, October 4th, I competed in the Breast Cancer Awareness Cyclocross Challenge held at the Hagerstown Sports Complex in Hagerstown, MD. They have not yet posted the results, but I won't make you hold your breath - I think I finished 2nd or 3rd from last. But I learned much , specifically that lower tire pressure is a good idea on wet grass (handling mishaps in turns caused me to slide out of control and/or crash numerous times)and that a late night and 2-hour drive prior to racing is not a good idea. In the end I had a blast though. I'll report the actual finish later.



Next weekend I will compete in the Carlisle Regional Medical Center Iron Cross VI race in Pine Grove Furnace State Park in south central Pennsylvania. It is a 62+ mile XC cyclocross adventure race. Wish me luck.

Lars

Washington Nationals vs NY Mets on 09/28/08

I'm not sure if we have any baseball fans reading our blog, but I
have been trying to expand Ami's sport horizons. One of her employee's gave us tickets to the September 28th game between the Washington Nationals and the New York Mets. I was not terribly excited about the match-up, not being a fan of the Mets and not impressed by the Nationals. However, I did want to see the new stadium and became a little more interested when I found out Johan Santana would be starting for the Mets. It was more exciting to watch him as a Twin, but I was still happy to see this future Hall of Famer pitch.


The new stadium is nice, but parking in SE DC is a pain and expensive. I believe they need to add a few more attractions on the inside, as it does not yet have the character of Camden Yards in Baltimore, which is the best stadium I have been in barring the Astrodome (which will probably always remain my favorite as it was with the huge lightboard display).


The only real competition during the game was the President's Race, which is always held in the middle of the Fourth inning. The race started out with Teddy streaking out of the gate and building a huge lead. The crowd grew ecstatic as it looked like Teddy would finally win his first race ever. Our spirits sank though as he seemed to get turned off course at first base and sprinted into the National's dugout, allowing Abe to win yet again. You can find out more about the Pesident's Race at the entry on Wikipedia.

Lars