My Thesis AKA Boring Sciencey Stuff

Here is an animation that will show you the technology in about 1/3 of what is my thesis (click on start tour). Just make the feed water hot and replace the sweep gas or vacuum with cold water and you have the other 2/3. Oh, and if you make the water hot you get water vapor moving across the membrane in addition to the dissolved gases that are in the water.

My mom fed me cream cheese

See?

Soup

Miranda cooks like a rock star.

Clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls. (The bread is bought)

Fall in Colorado

The other day on the radio, a woman said "Once again, the variable weather of the Fall reminds us that Winter is almost here...but not quite." I assume this is what she was referring to.

Just as predicted, we woke up to snow this morning. But no worries, apparently it should be up in the 60s by Wednesday.

So much for digging up my garden before it snowed huh?

And of course since it isn't really a blizzard, it isn't sticking to the roads....so off we go to church.

Happy Birthday Miranda!

I had a wonderful birthday that lasted all weekend. I got to have lunch with my friends, eat the most delicious cake that my co-worker made me, see the movie Across the Universe, and of course, spend lots of time with Nate. The highlight of my birthday was a light dinner we had at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. Nate happened to mention that it was my birthday. Yes, yes, there was much eating, Mexican themed singing, and sombrero wearing.

Can you believe I thought I might go my whole life without having a picture like this taken of me?

Just a little story for you guys.

So the other day Miranda and I were driving back from a movie that we had gone to see. As we were getting on the freeway to come home I noticed a cloud of dust erupt in the median caused by a car that had just arrived there. It was facing the wrong direction and I don’t really have any idea how he got there. He wasn’t in front of me when I was getting on and it would have been a pretty steep drop for him if he had just come careening off of the freeway.

Anyway, once I realized what I was looking at I pulled over to the edge of the onramp, turned on my hazards and started to get out of my car to see if there was anyone who needed help. However, before I got my door open a car that I quickly identified as the car that had just recently been in the median pulled up next to me. I rolled down my window, he rolled down his and then he said, “… sorry dude… I just lost traction.” To which I replied with a stupid look on my face, “Ok… well… be careful I guess.” And then he drove off.

2 Questions that I should have asked:

1 – What were you doing to lose traction? Perhaps there is a freak patch of ice in the 70° weather, or an oil slick released by a spy’s car that I should be watching out for.

2 – Where did you come from?! Based on where you were and the direction you were facing, the best I could tell is that you dropped straight out of the sky.

Baby Updates...

In case you're wondering:

1. I feel Little Spike kicking all the time now. Particularly in the evening. About three nights ago she kept me up all night kicking and punching with all her might. I am aware that this is only the beginning of many sleepless nights courtesy of the L. Spike.

2. My abdominal muscles are starting to stretch a lot more...this is more uncomfortable than I anticipated it would be. Also, my belly button seems to be detaching itself from the rest of my body.

3. According to the books she is about 12 inches long and maybe weighs about a pound. I've gained slightly more.

4. Yes we've thought of a few names...we have a list of possibilities. But we're not telling you what they are so you're just going to have to wait until she's born.

5. As of January 1, 2008 my company will change its insurance benefits and I will no longer have Kaiser. That means I'll get a new doctor when I'm 36 weeks pregnant. I'm okay with it though because it means I can get a midwife and deliver at a hospital that is 8 miles closer to our house (as in, it's two miles away).

6. Nate can now feel her kicking from outside my belly...pretty cool.

That is all.

Look What I Made!

So this is officially my first non-blanket sewing project; as in, sewing and cutting something other than straight lines. I present: My first apron!

Modeled by my lovely friend and birthday girl, April.

I've been a little infatuated with vintage aprons lately and decided that it was time to quit gawking and make something. I decided to start with what appeared to be an "easy" non-vintage apron and then work my way up the difficulty ladder. It's a good thing I decided to go this route because as soon as I got all of the fabric cut and was ready to sew, I realized...I don't actually know how to sew! I had no idea what Step 1 wanted me to do. Luckily my friend Rachel was around to ask all of my initial questions and then I was off and running. I found that it worked best for me to read every step of the directions about a thousand times in order to understand it, and then still follow the directions one SENTENCE at a time until the light went on in my head and I could do what it said. Below is a closer shot of the fabric so you can see how cute it is.

And so now on to other sewing projects. I plan on making a diaper bag, some burp cloth things, and eventually a messenger bag. I probably won't be working at the speed of my sister-in-law, but I think I'm okay with that. I hope you enjoy your apron, April, and that your clothes stay clean while cooking from now on!

Would you call this "nesting"?

You know...like when birds build nests and they gather things from their surroundings like sticks, weeds, ribbon, hair, mud, and then form it into a little pile to put their babies in? Not unlike what I'm doing here with Little Spike's room where I gather things from around the house that we're not using like clothes, furniture, boxes...and eventually I'll just put the baby in the middle of it. Nesting...right?

As far as I know, "nesting" is a pregnant woman's instinct to clean and organize her house before her little one arrives. To be honest, I think my nesting instinct was more intact prior to being pregnant. Shortly after getting pregnant, I began to care little about the state of our house. Mostly because I had more important things to do like sleep. Now that has passed, I still like to get the house clean, but not to the caliber that I expected pre-baby. As evidenced by the current state of our little girl's future room.

What I do suspect has happened, is that my nesting instinct has decided to materialize in two ways: making lists and crafting. First of all, boy-howdy do I ever love to make lists. Now with a baby coming, and my procrastination at it's peak, there is potentially no end to my lists. Furthermore, I really feel the need to make things. In fact, I've made a list of things I need to make (believe it or not). When I realized that I have approximately 16 weeks left of my pregnancy I practically started hyperventilating over that fact that I have not knit a single thing for Little Spike. No blankets, no hats, no burp rags...not bootie one. All I do is make gifts for all of my friend's babies but when it comes to my own offspring...meh.

My mother-in-law assured me that she was certain I didn't need to be panicking about this exact thing right now. I replied that I was pretty sure logic wasn't a character in this play. Luckily, my sister-in-law helped with my crisis by sending me an adorable sweater pattern that I will start on soon. In the meantime, I've started knitting a hat until I get the yarn for my sweater.


Whew. Crisis avoided...for now.

P.S. I think everyone should drink Izze soda because it is delicious and is the equivalent of a serving of fruit. Featured: Sparkling Pomegranate (unpaid advertisement)