Re-start the blog!

After a bit of a hiatus, I return to post on the blog.  This is mostly thanks to our early return to Chicago from Detroit this evening.  Despite the snow (heavy snow in Michigan - 9" at my Mom's house this morning) we were home at a reasonable 7pm, leaving time to unpack AND get something on the blog before bedtime.

We spent President's Day weekend in Michigan, both to visit and to attend Rachel's baby shower.  Since I was not in attendance, I cannot comment on that event...I passed the time re-living my teenage years by racing go-karts against my brother and brother-in-law at Zap Zone.  3 times around the course confirmed that being the father of a tweener apparently gives you a huge psychological advantage in the go-kart department.

With a little prodding from my brother, I spent some of the weekend looking through some things in the basement and the garage at the house.  Amazing to see how many memories of childhood are tucked away there - many toys from my siblings' time are long gone, but a lot of mine are still stored away.  Once we get a house, the question arises - will my anti-packrat efforts (spent to counteract my other half) give way to the hoarding tendancies that are so clearly in my blood?  And is that such a bad thing, when things are well organized?

In the work sphere - things are going well at my school.  I am settling more into my chemistry course, working reasonable hours without having papers piling up at home.  It is a nice place to be.  Now, I just need to keep things this way over the next couple months...to be in a good position when the baby arrives.

At home, the house is filling with baby-related paraphernelia.  Again, this is mostly Rachel's sphere (since the bounty is a result of her being "showered" with gifts) and I will withhold further comment.

Rachel at 30 weeks

Last Monday, we went out to Amelia's, a surprisingly upscale restaurant at Halsted and 46th.  It was recommended by our friend Katy, and when our primary options for Valentine's Day dinner fell through we made reservations for the un-romantic, but very teacher-friendly time of 5:30.  It was a lovely dinner, with great food and excellent service.  Thanks for the tip, Katy!

Rachel loved that her salad had a slice of warm goat cheese!

Rachel's entree was chicken with pineapple, asparagus, and fried polenta

Alan's clam chowder.  Warm and yummy!

I wanted to go Italian.  We did not, but I was not disappointed.  This plate of lobster ravioli was awesome!

Last Saturday, we attended an all-day birthing class at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.  My sense is that it was appropriately informative, but I honrestly spent much of the day in a sinus-induced haze.  I was impressed with the facilities - you get a huge private room for both labor and recovery.  It was much more hotel-like than hospital-like.  Granted, in the past 5 years I have been to more hospitals in China than I have in America, so maybe I am just behind the times.

This week will be a short, 4-day school week.  There are lots of exciting things going on:

• Municipal election.  Will Rahm win the mayoral election outright?  Who will get my vote?
• Dinner guests on Wednesday, dinner hosts on Thursday.  Fun!  Yay for social time.
• Phil and Karen are visiting this weekend.  It's not spring (snow is in the forecast tonight) but we can have some fun in Chicago anyway!

Goodnight everybody!

-alan