Where has the time gone?

Only 16 days until Baby's due date (1/5)! So, where have we been all fall?

We had a wonderful "Babymoon" in Chicago during September. While we thought of the baby a lot, it was so nice to get away just the two of us (as well as meeting up with several friends and seeing U2!!). We love to travel and getting away always refreshes us.

One memorable moment of the fall was brought to us by a nice walk through our neighborhood on a Friday evening in October. We were getting ready to cross the street when I noticed an envelope on the ground. I picked it up, flipped it over, and read, "Twins Tickets". Hmmm....the Twins had made the playoffs but no way...we opened and there they were 2 tickets to the ALDS game on Sunday night against the Yankees at the Metrodome. After looking around for someone or a hidden camera, Mark shoved them in his pocket and we continued our walk, pondering what to do. We posted signs in the area and put a lost & found add on Craigslist but alas no one called. So, we went to Game 3 and sat on the aisle in the 11th row, just beyond 1st base! The Twins lost (and the game wasn't that great) but we had a blast!! And, coincidentally, purchased our first piece of baby clothing - a Twins tee for next summer!

Other things that have kept us busy: 10-week birth class (boy, are we prepared), Dani's best friend(Teri) visited for a long weekend, celebrated a friend's birthday with an "Oktoberfeast", attended a wonderful Halloween party, and work, work, work!

We traveled to Iowa for a wonderful weekend and a shower hosted by my sister-in-law. It was warm for November in Iowa and, a special treat, Mark's mom, sister, and sister-in-law came up from Texas to help celebrate! It was a great weekend with family! The following weekend, my good friend Kerstin hosted a shower here in the Twin Cities. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and I was truly blessed by the generosity of our friends (in time, advice, gifts, and love). We are so thankful to have found such a wonderful place to call home!


And, we're getting ready for the baby! Quite a while back Mark painted the baby's room and yesterday we scored a deal on a crib, glider, and ottoman set! So, we're pretty much as ready as we're gonna be (bag is packed, next to the crib)!

Many have inquired about me and I'm great (except when I'm not)! Baby has been doing lots of dancing and the Braxton Hicks are getting old...I'm ready to meet this Little One and begin the next phase! As you may have noticed, I've been reluctant to share photos of myself...not sure why because I'm excited about this new adventure and, other than finding clothing, haven't minded being pregnant. I guess I've wanted to focus on beginning our family rather than having a baby, I know it's just semantics but...

-----5 Weeks------- ------37 Weeks------


Anyway, I'm doing my best to find time to relax when I can and Mark is busy as a bee caring for me - he really is the best! So, if you get time, shoot him a text or email of encouragement. Thanks!

Chee-Ca-Go

Dani and I needed a vacation, U2 was playing in Chicago, so we tied the two together. We took a Southwest flight (about 1.5 hr trip) versus driving (about a 7 hour drive). We were accustomed to using public transportation from our last Europe trip, and were eager to try our hand at US based traveling. However, this time, I was equipped with an active cell phone and had access to Google Maps with integrated transit info. It was absolutely beautiful. Turn on the GPS and the map showed where you were, tell it where you wanted to go, and the map told you where to walk, what bus to ride (and the next time of the next bus), where to transfer, which EL (elevated train) to get on, and your ETA. It was almost too easy! In fact, after mapping out our first route from the airport to our B&B/home, we waited for the 547X bus to arrive at 1:47pm. "Hey, here's the 547X at 1:40pm!" I exclaimed. It was a little early, what luck. We knowingly jumped on the bus and grabbed a seat. As we pulled out of the airport terminal, we headed South. Unfortunately we were supposed to be heading North. I double checked my maps, and noticed that it called for the 547X-Cicero bound. Uh-oh, I was so happy to see the bus, I failed to check the direction it was headed. So, we hopped on the South-bound one and rode it to some mall for about 15 minutes. The driver pulled the bus over near a Wendy's for a timed stop and was suprised to see us still sitting on the bus. I told him what had happened and asked if we should just sit it out or try and catch a North-bound 547X. He said that he was the next North-bound bus, so just have a seat and enjoy. We humbly ate our peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches while the driver cleaned up the bus.

Our "B&B" was wonderful. I use quotes, as it was listed online as a B&B, and they did stock the fridge with breakfast, but it was more of a place to sleep. A BIG place to sleep. The owners have an up/down-house and rent out the downstairs as they slowly renovate the place. The place was spacious with a large kitchen, bathroom, huge living area, a master bedroom, a small bedroom, and another medium bedroom. It literally could of slept 10. Our friends met up with us on Saturday to help fill the place.

Lets see, on Sept. 9, we went into town and enjoy the sites. I enjoyed Millennium Park.. and especially seeing the "bean" up close. It's art. It's a big, chrome like, reflective, well, bean shaped sculpture. The reflections in it are crazy as it absorbs all the images, city line, etc. It's a little hard to find yourself in the reflection when walking up.















We polished off the day with some deep dish, Chicago style pizza, and wow-wee was it good! It better be after waiting 30-40 minutes for it!




On Sept. 10, we took an architectural boat tour along the river. They discussed the "great fire", who started it, what happened, and how the city came together after to rebuild. Hence, the unique buildings that exist today. The Sears tower (now AKA the Willis Tower but no one calls it this anyhow) was built on the basis of a pack of cigarettes. I guess they don't just cause lung cancer.
We dropped in at Portillo's, an excellent, fast moving, dine-in, Chicago-dog and other assortment of foods place. I thought the dogs were $9 as they were just in that blurry vision range, so I asked Dani if she wanted to share one. She looked at me funny and as we moved forward I noticed they were $2.50. I got my own. We went back several times.. and yes, the dogs were amazing (I like everything on it too). Dani surprised me a clever visit to Garrett's Popcorn: they make an excellent caramel pecan pop-corn that is beyond addictive. Be careful! We ended our evening with our long anticipated tickets to see a live recording of "Wait Wait", the NPR comedy news quiz. It was quite fun!



Sept. 11: We ventured south of the city of the Museum of Science and Industry which sits where the world fair was held in the (I think) late 1800's, or early 1900's. If you read Devil in the White City you'll have a better understanding and excitement! For dinner we met up with old time friends and neighbors from Seattle, Chris and Jamie Conner! We had tapas at an excellent little Spanish restaurant in the Lincoln Park area. It was great to see old friends and catch up (they were also in town for the U2 concert).

Sept 12: We had brunch w/ an old friend from KC, Courtney Ryan. She took us to a little, quaint, brunch-ee type place that served the BEST ginger-pumpkin pancakes I've ever had. Those might of been the first I've ever had, but they were darn good!



We made our way over to Navy Pier, walked out on it, turned around, and headed home to meet up with friends coming in town for the concert, and then decided that we should all take a quick nap. It turned out to be rather longer than anticipated, but we all awoke well rested and ready for the concert. Emily brought an excellent chicken dish which she fixed, so we were able to sit down for a home-cooked meal. Unfortunately we weren't watching the time and it was time to leave (as we were finishing our meal). So we all quickly got ready and jumped on the EL. The ride was quick, but we still had to catch a bus to Soldier Field. As we walked off the EL in downtown the next bus that pulled up (heading to the stadium) was cram packed full! Everyone waited did the exact same thing--we all bolted down the street to catch a taxi. It was a little nightmare-ish as everyone would leap-frog each other to be the "next" person to wave down a taxi. We finally turned the corner and waved one down, but he didn't want to drive to the concert area (crazy traffic). We caught a nice driver with a mini-van and on the way, I told him he could just drop us off where ever he thought would make the best sense so he could get back to making more fare money. He was so kind, and we jumped out about a 1/4 mile away so he was able to do a U-turn. Thanks Mr. kind taxi-driver! See what we can do when we work together!? Due to our tardiness to the concert we missed most all (except for the last song) of the opening band: Snow Patrol, which was a bummer, because both Dani and I wanted to see them. Oh well. We were plenty early for U2. The show was great, and we had a blast. Dani could probably tell you the details of the concert. My description probable pales anyhow: songs, lights, smoke, etc. It was a cool stage setup.

Our last full day in down, Sept. 13: We had some B&B breakfast snacks I think. Dani bought a bag of Dyno-bites (the cheap version of Cocoa Crispies), and for some reason we're still talking about how good they were! We headed to Wrigley Field really just to see the park, however, a Cubs game was going on too. We walked around the park (very cool to see the stadium-like seats on the towering condo buildings next to the field!) and were accosted by a variety of ticket sales guys. I haggled with one guy and just honestly said we didn't have much of a budget. I offered $15 for 2 tickets and he kindly walked away. I wasn't up for paying much. We walked around some more and then it was the 3rd inning. As we were walking towards the EL we passed a guy w/ a LOT of tickets and appeared to run a business there. He was really nice and we asked how much (somewhat un-interested). He said $10 a ticket now... we could take our pick. He had 2 tix in the shade on the first deck between home and 3rd. We took em and enjoyed a cheap Cubs game!



After, we headed to the beach and walked in the sand along the lake shore, as it was a warm and sunny day. We once again visited Portillo's, enjoyed another dog, and then re-visited Millennium Park. A great last day if I do say so!

Baby Nicholson Photos

These are a long time coming! Busy doesn't event describe the Nicholson's as of late. But, the end is in sight and we will be able to shift our focus towards the new addition scheduled to arrive this January!

We did our ultrasound on Friday, August 21. It made for a great start to the weekend! The Little One was not that excited about modeling for us. Baby was covering his/her face most of the time so we have many foot and arm photos. In case you haven't already heard, we chose not to learn the gender of our baby. And, as you look through these, remember Baby's head is always on your right and captions are along the bottom if you need help. Or click on the photos to go to the album.

I hope you enjoy as much as we have!

Growing Pains

Well, it's 4AM and after nearly an hour in bed awake I decided to rise and (because I'm hungry) have something to eat. A strawberry Poptart and bowl of multi-grain Cheerios, if you must know. Unfortunately, I think I'm feeling worse not better after eating. Figures.

I've been thinking about this post for a few days. And mixing my 80's TV show references for effect...the theme from Facts of Life has been running through my brain: "There's a time you got to go and show, You're growin' now you know about (sing it with me) The Facts of Life, The Facts of Life". Because it's way better than the Growing Pains theme: "Show me that smile again. Don't waste another minute on your crying, we're nowhere near the end. The best is ready to begin." "Wait!," you're thinking. "Those GP lyrics seem to make great sense for a pregnancy". Right. Just what I want to think about - being nowhere near the end and someone telling me to quit crying. Awesome.

Anyway, the baby inside is starting to show itself. Now, I'm not really concerned about what I look like, per se. It's more that I'm between clothes right now and every day is a challenge to get out the door. My own clothes are quickly becoming snug and maternity clothes make me look A. Frumpy or B. Chubby, not cutely pregnant. And I'm feeling a little stuck as we can start to see the coming of the end of summer (trust me, I'm in no hurry). I feel stuck because I don't want to buy new clothes to wear for like a month (capris, shorts, etc.) and then go into fall and need to get more new clothes. Many of you mothers and pregnant friends are thinking, "oh, the Bella Band". Yes, this amazing piece of expensive spandex can be nice and cover up those unbuttoned pants. But, if you are say five feet tall, it covers from well below your waist up to the bottom of your bra, sorta like a really cool tube top. Again, Awesome.

On the bright side, we're in the process of picking paint colors for our interior. I know, no painting. Mark's doing the hard work (along with any willing friends). We bought some test colors last night after a week with different colored cards stuck to the walls. The living/dining color seems to be too light...we worried about too dark. The kitchen splotch looks good color-wise but the paint job is leaving a little to be desired (I suggested buying the stupid foam brush, my fault). In case you're wondering, I did laundry and painted my toenails while Mark tested out his skills. He thought the nail polish smell had to be far worse for me than the paint. Whatever.

Everyone keeps asking how I'm doing. The one word answers, depending on the moment: busy, stuffy, itchy, tired, hungry. Work has picked up quite a bit so I've been extremely busy but this past week has been great! I don't feel tired until the moment I'm walking out to the car. And then I feel like I could eat everything in sight (which is usually a piece of fruit or Fiber One bar).

I've been stuffy since the end of week 9 (count 'em, 9 whole weeks!). I'm congested mostly in the evening and during the night due to allergies and pregnancy. It was suggested that I not take my normal allergy medication as...well, no drug company is stupid enough to test drugs on actual pregnant humans! So, every now and then I pop a Benedryl which lasts me about 5 hours. I didn't take one before bed tonight and thus am awake. Our Nurse-Midwife made mention that I may feel congested THROUGHOUT the pregnancy. Seriously. With the stuffiness comes the ever-so-attractive "ahem" filled with phlem in my throat. I actually opened the car door the other morning at a stoplight to spit. Yet again, Awesome. I'm a 70-year-old man. Oh, and I forgot to mention that on our camping trip last weekend (which was great, thanks) I picked up some great mosquito bites on my feet. So, many nights during the past week I've been awoken by myself scratching my feet. Gross, huh. Sitting on the edge of the tub and running freezing water over them seems to calm the itchiness down but wakes me right up.

Thankfully (and quite seriously), I could never imagine a better partner on this journey than Mark. He has been my personal chef (many times breakfast, lunch, and dinner), encourager, compliment-giver, and event planner. I already think he's a better parent than I'll be...every day is an adventure and I'm so glad that he's willing to take it with me. He gets my humor and doesn't think it's gross when I tell him pregnancy stuff (or at least, he tells me it's not gross). I am so blessed!

16 Weeks and Counting

The proverbial cat is finally out of the bag...but, in case you hadn't heard, I'm pregnant!

Monday morning we had our 16 week appointment and met another of the Nurse-Midwives at our clinic. She was really great and shared our excitement. We heard the heartbeat again (always a joy), discussed my ever-increasing stuffiness, gaining weight, diet, and our 20-week ultrasound. It's crazy to think we're only a few weeks from the halfway point! We're excited to see the little one but still do not intend to know the gender until the big day. If you want to mark your calendars but haven't yet, our estimated due date is January 5, 2010. For those of you keeping score, that's 24 days after Mark's birthday and a mere 3 before mine - so much for avoiding another "Christmastime" birthday! Although, I have a feeling this one may take his/her own sweet time so maybe MLK weekend? Or my Aunt Diane's birthday? Thank goodness we got married in May!

Also, many people have commented to me that I seem to have "popped" this week. As I'm neither a kernel of popcorn or a butterball turkey, I prefer to think that I'm starting to "show" that I'm pregnant. Please remember this when speaking with pregnant women.

In other news this week, we found out that friends from church are also going to have a baby and are due just 6 days after us! We're excited to share this journey with them!

Less exciting but still great - we've been in the house a month. Boxes still need to be unpacked but that's ok. And, due to our lack of rain, the grass is quite brown but I'm trying to remember to water every now and again. We're settling in and loving our new neighborhood (Hamline Midway). I saw a sign this morning on our walk that stated, "On a bicycle, the top is always down". Give it a second. Makes me feel a little like we're in Ballard (our old Seattle neighborhood)...that and the neighbor with chickens in her yard! :) There are lots of friendly people on our block and many dogs as well as a few children.

Last night we had an exceptional date night! We rode our bikes to Midway Stadium, home of the Saint Paul Saints baseball team. It's maybe a mile each way and GA tickets are $5 each. We looked into the setting sun most of the evening but truly enjoyed time outside watching baseball together! Did I mention they sell Cheese Curds at the game (see Fried Cheese Curds)?

Work. We're both doing it. My boss is on maternity leave through September and I agreed to take on the Marketing aspect of her job, thinking "no big deal". Well, that plus many other unforeseen duties has meant I'm working a lot. And I'm wiped out when I get home! Mark has been rather busy with his business, Elite Asset Protection (www.eaprotection.com). It's been exciting to watch him grow and learn and build this new enterprise. I'm so proud and happy that he's been able to do something that is mentally stimulating, challenging, and fun to earn income! He's had the desire to have his own business for longer than I've known him so it's pretty rewarding to hear the "new order" text notification!

We will do our best to continue to post (including pictures) regularly now that we're "out". Also, if you want to read a couple of emails from earlier in the pregnancy, I've added them below (TGIF and All is Well).

The FEAR of water

Recently Dani and I were sitting around a table with some friends and I had asked one of our friends if they believed that everyone has a fear? They weren't so sure, so we went around the table and almost everyone had some type of fear. Everyone except me. I couldn't think of anything that was a true fear. Then, today, it hit me, that perhaps I do? I think I have a fear of a water pipe leaking in a house when were not home. Back in Seattle we had a neighbor (our townhouse that we shared a wall with neighbor) that lost a water valve (yeah, it shot off) during the night when he wasn't home. This was on the third floor. He opened his front door (on the first level) with over 2 inches of water on the floor. So, when I say I fear a water leak, I just don't like how wiley water can be in a home when it gets out.

Another note: I LOVE our new home. It is fantastic, and I enjoy the many projects and creativity I have to use to complete them. With that said... here's a little taste of the past few days:

So a week ago I was moving the stove and noticed an old sink had been installed in place of it (years ago). As I tapped one of the original steel pipes I noticed a droplet of water and thought "oh crap, that's not good". There was a hole cut out in the wall where the pipes once connected to the sink, but the droplet was coming from above. I ran upstairs to the bathroom to check for overflow, and luckily all was fine there. I returned back downstairs and placed a mirror and flashlight into the wall to find a "T" valve about 8 inches up that likely was the "original" branch for the "original" sink that was once there. That part of the wall was covered. I noticed that the cold water pipe "T" had a plug in it, and it was fine. However, the hot water "T" section had a small pipe coming out, with a cap on it. It was corroded beyond recovery and was very likely the culprit of the leak. I waited for a while, tapped it, and again, a droplet came.

The plan was to remove the small piece of pipe, put a plug in place of it, and be done. Initial time estimate: 1 hour max., with time for cleanup.

Days later I was ready to start the small job. I first put a pipe wrench up into the wall and was able to reach the small pipe without a problem. Oh, I did FIRST cut the main water valve.... give me a little credit. I was able to get the teeth to catch, and wa-la. It was twisting in a matter of turns. However, the pipe was SO corroded, only half of it came out.
Great. I made a small incision in the wall (a few inches) to gain better detail and evaluate the situation. The pipe was so corroded, it was less than a millimeter thick in one place.
OK, so now I had to extract the remaining part of the pipe. I was thinking I once used (via my Grandfather) a pipe wrench with a head that had horizontally extended teeth. I might have dreamed this up, but I feel like something like this exists (and if not, make note--go get a patent now!). I went to a few stores and they just stared at me. I explained the situation to one guy, and he recommended a pipe extractor. Great. I showed him the pipe piece I had, and he said a 3/4" extractor should do the job. I came home, drilled out some of the corrosion, and then looked at the extractor. The pipe looked closer to 1/2", although my 1/2" drill bit sat inside of the pipe w/ about 1/8" room. 5/8" pipe? They say there is no such thing. The extractor was not going to work. I got online and googled "how to remove a pipe", and found someone that recommended an internal pipe wrench. Wow, that sounds great. Went to store, and they had a number of them. Why didn't they think of this when I explained the situation the first time? Oh well, I got one, came home, and inserted said internal pipe wrench. I twisted. The piece that locks the wrench inside broke. I said some explicatives. I returned to said home store and requested a new one. They obliged. I returned home w/ new pipe extractor. Inserted tool, twisted, it locked, and then the battle began. I used a deep socket to grab the internal pipe wrench (I'm still working on this w/ about 2" cut into the wall) and the largest socket wrench I have. Nothing. I added a cheater pipe and twisted again. Geez. I gave it all I had, and it began to come out. Whew. Pipe removed.

I thought ahead and purchased a plug to put in. It was a 1/2" plug. It fit pretty good. I put it in w/ some Teflon. Turned on water. It leaked. Turned off water. Removed plug, used teflon paste. Returned plug. Turned on water. Still leaked. Turned off water. Called Dad. He recommended a different plug. Found one at Ace that was US made. It looked better. Tried teflon paste + new plug. It leaked. Tried more teflon, it leaked too. Called Dad. He recommended as a last effort epoxy. I thought what the heck. Cleaned pipe, etc. really good and re-ran threads w/ a tap.

Before shutting off the water main I filled the sinks with water so that we'd have some for cleanup, etc. I applied a STRONG cleaning solution to the pipe (a concentrated pre-epoxy grease removed), and a small amount ran onto my hands. I figured it was the equivalent of gasoline, but it was not! It began to burn, so I ran to the filled sink of water and soaked my hands for a few minutes. Whew--good thing I had some water on reserve. Otherwise I might be typing right now.

Applied epoxy + new plug and waited 9 hours for the super Pro epoxy w/ kevlar to set. Turned on water the next morning. The plug did NOT leak. Great. However, I noticed a really small leak just below the plug on the "T" head. Crap. Well, I have all the cleaning stuff and epoxy. Why not? So, I cleaned all and applied a liberal amount of epoxy on said area. We ate out again that night.

Well, there you have it. It appears to be holding fine now. Below is a picture of the T valve inside the wall, with a liberal amount of epoxy around it. The newspaper is sitting there (for now) so that I can pull it out and check to see if any water has leaked. So far, so good... but I hesitate to say anything more, as we all know what can happen.

TGIF!

An email to those in the know (from 6/26):

Well, we started this beautiful morning off with a nice, cool walk with Murphy and then headed to our appointment. The midwife tried to reassure us that we may not hear a heartbeat today and if that was the case we'd do an ultrasound but it was nothing to worry about. After that, she took her little fetal doppler and found the heartbeat in about .2 seconds!!! We got to listen and smile for quite a little bit, which was nice. I think it's really setting in for Mark - the heartbeat was a good reassurance for him. I've had lots of other nagging things to remind me daily! :) Today is 12 weeks and 4 days. We have another appointment in 4 weeks. I'm feeling much better and the news is getting out...I told the other managers at work this week so now everyone at work knows!

In other exciting news, we close on our house today at 4pm! We have friends helping us move stuff on Sunday, which we're so thankful for! Although we did offer the incentive of free pizza! Mark's dad arrives in town on Monday (to help with some projects) and his mom, aunt, and sister should be here Thursday or Friday! This will be their first trip to Minnesota so we're hoping to show off what a great place it is!

Have a great weekend! Feel free to call...and know that we aren't ignoring you if we don't call or email, we're just a little busy at the moment!

Love (and apologies for the excessive use of exclamations),
Dani and Mark.

All is Well

An email to those in the know (6/11):

Well, we had our first official prenatal appointment this morning. We are planning to deliver with a Certified Nurse-Midwife practice that delivers at the hospital closest to us. So, today we met with Linda, one of the midwives. She put us at ease as we answered a ton of questions and then let us ask all of ours. It was a really nice experience for both Mark and me, being a little nervous.

Everything went well - I'm healthy! Yeah! And I haven't gained any weight yet (although she suggested 10 pounds in the next 10 weeks). We are 10 weeks and 3 days into this and feeling pretty good! :) The only small bummer was that we were not able to hear the heartbeat. Apparently, my uterus (sorry Lindsay) is tilted toward the back. This is no problem and will change as the two of us grow. And, not hearing the heartbeat wasn't a worry - so please don't! She was very nice and said, "why don't you come back in two weeks and we'll try again", despite not really needing to see me for 4 weeks. I think she sensed our excitement.

The funniest moment of the appointment happened while she was searching for the heartbeat with the little monitor. She was so patient and really trying hard for us. At one point she said, "this baby's being stubborn" which made me laugh, which made the monitor make horrible noises, and prompted Mark to say, "It runs in the family!" I wonder what he's taking about?

Settling Down (we hope)

Another long overdue post...Facebook may be the death of our Blog. It seems much easier to post pithy little ditties every now and then rather than sitting down to write. But, we try.

We have made an offer on a house that has been accepted. Today is the inspection!! We are very excited for this transition to a more permanent situation here in the Twin Cities! It's been interesting living in a rather small 2 bedroom apartment that is crammed with our stuff (bikes, tools, dog stuff...you name it). After having a home in Seattle, the apartment in St. Paul was to be a transition space. Unfortunatley, the transition has taken us longer than we'd (I'd) hoped. The good news is that we're hoping to close before the end of June!!!

Here are some pictures and video from Mark with those from the listing included. Take a look! But, seriously, only positive feedback! :)

The place has been fixed up already and it's a pretty clean slate. Great hardwood throughout and big enough to host parties and overnight guests! If you're looking for a summer vacation destination, you should consider St. Paul! We love it!

I'm sure with the house will come many exciting new adventures (it was built in 1917 but in great shape). And hopefully more exciting Blogs!

Squirrels

Well, after my continuously hitting the ceiling with a baseball bat for the past few months, I won!  Kind of.  Last week I had hit the ceiling so hard that I scared the squirrel right out and near our window sill.  So, I opened the window and scratched the screen making hissing noises (like any normal person would do) and to my surprise the squirrel retaliated and jumped at me all while squawking (or whatever it is squirrels do).  After realizing it wanted a fight I tried to remove the screen and send it 3 stories to the ground with my bat, but unfortunately (or fortunately?) the plastic screen tabs broke and I was never able to get some batting practice in.  I, however, DID continue to rifle our ceiling with clonks of the bat end every time I heard squirrel scratching.  Then, last Thursday, I noticed the squirrel crawling out, but with something rather large in her mouth... it dawned on me that it was a baby squirrel.  Since I knew she was relocating her family, I was all for it and decided to walk outside and see where she was moving to (also marking sure she wasn't relocating to our bedroom or living area).  I didn't see a thing, and then, something moved beside a tree near the street.  The baby squirrel in her mouth was about 1/3 her size, so she continued with the large item in her teeth across the street.  I followed and watched her go under a backyard fence of one of our neighbors.  She had cleverly pre-dug a hole there.  I looked over the fence and she climbed a tree and the scampered up it, out on a branch which overhung the house, and then jumped (about 4 feet in the air, still with the baby in her mouth) on to the roof top and clung to every shingle she could.  She continued up, then to the front, and around one of the eaves to another section of roof and then entered some hole I couldn't see and momentarily popped back out (without anything in her mouth) eying me to see if I was going to cause her more grief.  It was neat to watch, so I let her be in peace.   Luckily, no more squirrel scratching from our ceiling, and I might add, they moved to a much nicer house, so I'm guessing the squirrels must be doing quite well financially.

Time Flies

Well, life has been interesting during the past few months. Lots of ups and a few downs...many things to write about and little time (or sometimes interest) to do it. So, here's a recap...Fall & Winter.

Autumn was beautiful! I still can't believe we live in Minnesota. We rode our bicycles all over town this fall and joined the local YWCA. We took lots of walks and explored our neighborhood. I got used to working again and Mark pounded the pavement in search of employment. I even recall the first weekend in November being sunny and in the low 70's! We did our best to enjoy it because we knew winter would be setting in. And, boy did it! It's been pretty cold pretty much since December with some breaks here and there. January only had one day above freezing ( I believe in was 33 degrees on Jan. 31) as well as numerous when the air temperature didn't get UP to 0. While this seems horrible, we've actually grown accustomed. We both purchased a few pair of long underwear and wear our hiking boots to walk the dog. Also, it's hard to beat all the sunshine we've had this winter! I knew I could handle the cold as long as the sun was out...I'm glad to know that Mark likes it that way too!

Mark interviewed with a few companies in the late fall/early winter. After a long time and many interviews with one company they offered him a great opportunity...we were overjoyed! We went out to celebrate with friends and went shopping for new work clothes for Mark. Then, a few days later, the head of HR called and rescinded the offer. Big bummer! But, the silver lining is that Mark was approached by a good friend to begin work on a web-based business. I'll let him share more on his own about that.

We also have been looking at houses and neighborhoods. We have found lots of areas that we enjoy being in...and there is something in me that desires a Saint Paul address. Don't know why! We have made an offer on a bank owned property in St. Paul but it could take a while before we hear anything...we're excited. It's a big Tudor built in 1932 and in pretty good shape. Just needs some TLC and a new kitchen! Fingers crossed...

We have had visits from different members of my family, which is always fun! Especially in our tiny apartment! We did get to go downhill skiing with my dad, brother, and 4 1/2 year old niece. That was a fun day! Not quite like Washington but awfully fun with family! Speaking of, in January we went to visit Mark's family in Texas. The timing was serendipitous as we had had a string of -20 degree days here and arrived in TX to something like the 50's! We had fun catching up with family, eating, and even enjoying a bonfire (with s'mores) one evening. (We've also found it interesting to live in a place where you have to distinguish temperatures between positive and negative - like up to 30!).

We have found a church we really like: Church of the Cross. It's a trek but we have really enjoyed the community there and the messages. We're in a fun small group and enjoy creating and eating meals with them every other Wednesday! We feel very blessed to have found it!

One of the fun things we've done recently is host an Oscar Party! We rearranged our place, invited 14 people over (because not everyone will be able to make it - WRONG), everyone brought something to eat or drink, we voted for who we thought would win, and watched the Academy Awards on the wall using our projector. It was a blast! We love entertaining and have felt a bit trapped in our little place. It was so fun and nice of our friends to embrace the "cozyness" of our apartment!

Christmas E-letter (in case we missed you)

December, 2008

We hope you enjoy a stroll through 2008 with us…it's been an exciting year for the Nicholson's!

In January, as the rainy winter was dragging on and we were looking for greener pastures, we celebrated Dani's 30th birthday with a trip to Minneapolis. This trip was to visit friends that had moved from Seattle as well as decide on the potential future of living in the cold-winter upper Midwest. Shortly after we got back, Sprint announced a voluntary separation package that they were offering employees. Basically, to reduce their workforce, they were paying people to no longer work there. This seemed like a fabulous idea to us; who wouldn't want to get paid to NOT go to work (at least for a few months)?

Late winter found Mark accepting the severance and preparing for his final day with Sprint at the end of March (after 7+ years of employment). We also began working with a wonderful realtor (thanks, Gene) to get our house ready for the market. In early April, we put our home up for sale and accepted an offer before the first weekend was over! (Thanks again to Abby & Frank for putting us up so we could be out of town for the open house). Dani left her Activities Assistant position at The Kenney retirement community after 16 fun months (she still misses her folks there).

Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) we said goodbye to Seattle from the bench seat of a Penske truck filled with all of our belongings (thanks to all those who helped us get packed!). We spent several days driving I-90, enjoying the beauty, books on cd, and small town stops. We arrived at Dani's parents, visited family, and put our stuff in storage. On May 20, we excitedly drove to Chicago to catch a flight to Europe. We had return tickets for July 18. Murphy would live in the lap of luxury at Dani's folks for a couple of months! Thanks Mom & Dad B. for helping make this trip possible!!!

We are so incredibly blessed and lucky to have had the opportunity to travel. We were able to visit Spain, Morocco, Portugal, France, and Ireland. Thanks to those who gave us tips, ideas, and places to stay: Amy, Pio, Tom, and especially our French hosts, Noelle & Michel.

We arrived back in Iowa in mid-July. We spent more time with family and began a month-long road trip (this time with Murphy in tow) that took us from family in Eastern Iowa, to friends in Kansas City and Texas, and to family in South Texas. Then we came back…all the way to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis & Saint Paul, Minnesota. We crashed on our friends futon (thanks Josh & Kerstin!) and began the job search. We traveled back and forth a couple of times to Iowa while interviewing and apartment searching.

In September we took the plunge and rented an apartment in St. Paul. A few days later, Dani had a job (Activity Coordinator at Prairie Lodge Assisted Living). We moved and thoroughly enjoyed the amazing autumn that we'd been missing! It lasted through the beginning of November!

We are now just getting ready to begin winter (despite already having had a few days where the temps never got above 0*F) and are enjoying the snow…but not so much the commute in "bad" weather. Mark has had some promising interviews and we've begun researching neighborhoods and looking for a home. We hope that by spring we can start scheduling visitors!

We both find ourselves amazed at the last year of our lives. Sometimes it's "We should've traveled a little longer…who thought two months would seem so short?" or "Can you believe we live in Minnesota?". Mostly though, it's, "How did we get so lucky? God is good!"

We hope that you can find ways this Advent season to see how that last one is true in your life, too!