Oh, baby!

Make way for baby! At 7 p.m., Jen & Ryan will check into the hospital so that she can be induced. Jen is 10 days past her due date, and we're all ready for Kaden to make his fashionably late appearance.

Jen & I went to lunch today at the cute Caffe Moderne in Old Town, where we shared some strawberry gelato and chatted about the next few weeks. She said she's nervous, but she seemed very calm and confident. Traits of a great mom, if you ask me. (More proof that she already has her Mom Hat on: She was talking about the errands she needed to run this afternoon so that the trio has all they need for the next week or so.)

Please keep the new Mom, Dad & baby in your prayers. And check back for updates!

A solo I can't wait to see

Brian & I were among the people who helped "Eagle Eye" rake in $29.2 million during the weekend. It's an edge-of-your seat suspenseful movie starring Shia LaBeouf (who I liked in "Transformers") and Michelle Monaghan (who I first liked in "Boston Public" and recently enjoyed in "Made of Honor"). Interesting Michelle facts: She was born in Iowa and studied journalism at Columbia. The movie theater was so cold that I ordered an Irish coffee to sip while I watched. Yum.

Before the movie started, Brian & I observed our theater tradition of ranking the previewed movies. Our rating system is thus:

• Thumb up: Gotta see it on the big screen
• Thumb sideways: Wait to see it On Demand
• Thumb down: I'll not be wasting two hours of my life on that flick

For the first time in maybe forever, we both gave thumbs-up to the four movies previewed Sunday:

• The new James Bond movie
• Brad Pitt's latest, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
• Tom Cruise's "Valkyrie"
  
• "The Soloist," directed by Joe Wright, who did a phenomenal job with "Atonement". Check out the trailer for "Soloist":
  

Not (likely) tonight, dear ...

Nicole & I had a good laugh when we spotted this sleep mask while shopping this afternoon at Bed, Bath & Beyond:

All dogs go to heaven

Today was Blessing of the Animals Sunday at Aldersgate, so we toted Dakota & Lilly along to church with us. They were well-behaved. For the most part.

Sunny Saturday

I tried to take advantage of the gorgeous fall weather this weekend. After Turbo Kick on Saturday morning, Nicole, Brian & I went to the Southeast-Liberal boys soccer game, where Tony was referee. It was a good, aggressive game. Full disclaimer: It was the first high school soccer game I've ever attended. Nonetheless, it was a great excuse to enjoy a warm fall day with friends.


On the way home from the game, Brian & I stopped at Johnson's to pick up grass seed, flowers and more before heading home to work on some fall yard and garden projects. There are fewer things as cheerful as pumpkins and mums in September:

Feeling a little twitterpated

Friday night found me at my first Tweetfest, a party in which friends from Twitter meet up. Twitter, by the way, is a microblogging site that defines itself as "a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing." (If you're on Twitter, look me up!)

Denise & Nick were hosts, and Brian, despite mocking me for Twittering for the past several weeks, even joined Twitter. I chatted with friends and met lots of new people, proving that Twitter really does connect people, including these fine folks:
















Pictured from left: Randy, Darrin, Julie, Suzanne, Denise & Brian

Ferocious jungle cat

OK, it's more a flower garden than a jungle.
And she's more more a scaredy, spoiled brat cat than a ferocious beast.
But hey. It's a Friday night. Anything's possible.

Tony book club

After an exciting day at work with a Wichita State University commercial filmed in the newsroom (I got to see the WuShock mascot without his head on!!) and cake for a co-worker celebrating her birthday and a new role at the paper, we had quite the tony little book club gathering at Chris' cute home tonight to discuss "My Antonia." I was pleased that many seemed to adore the book as much as I did. I was taken with the voice, tone and romantic notions in the novel. I did find it interesting that Cather wrote from the point of view of a man, the character Jim Burden, who I believe always loved Antonia, whom he sometimes called "Tony." Among my favorite excerpts:

"We reached the edge of the field, where our ways parted. I took her hands and held them against my breast, feeling once more how strong and warm and good they were, those brown hands, and remembering how many kind things they had done for me. I held them now a long while, over my heart. About us it was growing darker and darker, and I had to look hard to see her face, which I meant always to carry with me; the closest, realest face, under all the shadows of women's faces, at the very bottom of my memory."

Our read coincided with the Big Read, in which all Wichita-area residents are encouraged to read Willa Cather's novel. I'm excited about some of the special events going on around Wichita to celebrate the book.











From left in these photos: Cory, Deb, Lori, Peggy, Tara and Denise.

Our group wasn't much inspired when thinking of books to nominate for our October read. We were tempted to think of a scary or suspenseful book, with our next meeting being near October. Any suggestions?

To everything there is a season

In the past week, I've spent a few evenings on a four-mile run watching the sun set.
The end of the day.

I've been noticing signs of fall, including the mums about to bloom in our front garden.
The beginning of the season.

I have different people I love in my life who just found out they're pregnant, are about to have a baby, are celebrating a new marriage, are about to buy their first house.
The start of a new era.

And several talented people I respect are at a crossroads in their careers.
Time for a professional change.

Maybe Semisonic said it best:
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.

Need a smile?

YouTube is loaded with adorable videos of golden puppies. This one is a favorite of mine ...

Room to spare

While Brian & I were watching the Chiefs get spanked this afternoon, Meow Meow curled up in the dogs' wicker bed (where they rarely sleep) and took a nap. It must be the kitty version of having a king bed to yourself ...

Weekend warriors

Before a manicure, Beerfest, poker/dinner party, several football games, grocery shopping and a manicotti dinner, Brian & I started the weekend by volunteering Saturday morning at Habitat for Humanity's local Habitat Village. We joined forces with our friends from Aldersgate's Connect young adult group. I worked in the village last year and appreciated seeing two of the houses I helped with completed and lived in. It's very rewarding and inspiring to see how people come together for just a few hours to accomplish so much.

I enjoyed the work but am very thankful that my livelihood doesn't rely on manual labor. It's exhausting work, even when the weather's beautiful. Unfortunately, a memory card malfunction means that I can't share several of the cool photos I took, including some of Brian laying shingles on a roof (where he was very much in his element after learning how when he built our shed a couple of years ago).

Karla & Tony (at left) stapled HomeWrap weatherization sheeting to the outside of one home. I spent much of the morning helping with that. It was kind of fun to play with the staple gun ... until I whacked my thumb with it. (Ouch!)

Nicole helped install a window. Neither of us had seen that done before and were surprised at how simple the task really is. It's good to have friends who like to to work hard and play hard. I keep it on my list of things to be thankful for, along with the simple joy of having a house to call home when so many do not.

Mom's hands

Mom often doesn't like to get her picture taken. So I try to snap photos when she's unaware. Earlier this week when we were on our adventure in Rose Hill, I photographed her hands while she was playing with her wedding ring. I've always thought that Mom has beautiful, elegant hands. It's especially true when I think about the meals she's cooked, the tears she's dried, the applause she's sounded, the kisses she's blown, the letters she's written and the fight she survived this summer through hourly fingertip pricks and IV lines in her hands.

Since Tuesday, she's already worked on several more charity baby quilts. What a blessing that her hands are still at work. The community, my family and I are better for it.

I'm a Golden!

I took a "What Dog Breed are You" Dogster quiz today, and it says that I'm a Golden. I promise that I didn't cheat to make that the outcome. I bet Dakota & Lilly are so proud to know my inner dog.

The quiz results say, in part: "Laid-back, sociable and well-groomed, you've got your own hip little pack of groupies who just love to be around you ... You never poop out at parties, and since you're popular with ladies and men, as well as children and adults, you dish out your wit, charm and luck to whomever is close enough to bask in it."

Notice the first thing it lists under likely professions: Journalist. Hmm. Whoever said that Internet quizzes aren't revealing?

What breed are you?

Sunny side up, Little Buddy!

My Uncle Joey, who lives in Missouri and has always been a special man in my life, e-mailed me this great photo of his kitty, Little Buddy.

Guess it must run in the family ...

It's so sad ...

... how excited I got when I saw that a certain package had arrived in the mail for me this week. I love The Container Store and wish there was one anywhere near Wichita. I've been to the same location in Dallas three years in a row, including with Nicole & Ann in April. The place is heaven for Type-A personalities like me.

A few of their products that I'd recommend:

• Pet Travel Tainer
• Tea Bag Storage Container
• Nylon shopper bag

Sunny side up, Dakota!

I've blogged before about Dakota's cute habit of rolling on his back and sticking all of his legs in the air. Whenever Brian & I catch him like this, we say, "Sunny side up, Dakota!"

I've never been able to snap a picture of this, because he usually rolls over as soon as I lunge toward my camera. He must have been in a more cooperative mood last night:

Three's a charm

Mom & I visited the Rose Hill Quilt Guild tonight for its monthly meeting. It's a smaller group than the guild we belong to, but it's a very active guild that is highly involved in charity projects. (Members have given 3,500 quilts to various community needs since 1997. I'm pleased to have played a very small part in that, and Mom & I picked up a few kits to work on more charity baby blankets.)


We really made the trek to Rose Hill to hear from the guest speaker, Patty Knoechel, who is the younger sister of famous quilter and author Eleanor Burns of Quilt in a Day. I found Patty to be an incredibly sincere woman. She spoke, for example, about how much she misses her husband of 30 years (he died earlier this year). She told great jokes and was a great teacher of different techniques.

The bulk of her presentation was about Eleanor's newest book, "Victory Quilts," which tells their family's story and includes quilt patterns and stories that tie in with the 1940s. It's an era of American history that I adore, and I appreciate many of the quilts, which include symbols that represent the WWII time period:


To date, I've made only one Quilt it in a Day quilt. It didn't take me a day. At all. If fact, I still need to sew on the binding for it. But it's a quilt I cherish because Mom & I worked on it one block at a time using replica Civil War-era fabrics. The book and quilt tell the story of blocks that supposedly helped guide American slaves to freedom. Historians and quilters alike debate whether this indeed happened or if it's merely a myth. When I studied the underground railroad in American history college classes (Lawrence, obviously, played an integral role in the underground railroad), I did find one piece of documentation of a slave writing that he knew he had reached a safe house because of a hidden message in a quilt draped across a home's porch rail. I wasn't even into quilting at that time in my life, but even then I suspected that quilts have played important roles in that part of Kansas and American history.

For now, I display the quilt on an antique ladder in my living room. (I spread it out on the floor for this photo.)


The highlight of tonight was that it's Mom's three-month anniversary from being released from the hospital. I thank God every day for her recovery and the fact that she's feeling well enough to talk me into adventures like the one we shared tonight. A little slice of serendipity: Mom won a door prize, a quilt pattern from Kansas Troubles Quilters called "There's No Place Like Home." Indeed.

Lunch bunch

A perk of working downtown: Old Town's restaurants and nightlife just a short walk away. A few co-workers and I took a stroll during our lunch break to savor the wonderful weather and meet a few more co-workers at Uptown Bistro. (I recommend the Fattouch salad with salmon, by the way.) I really love the restaurant and have celebrated many happy occasions there, including a lunch with a dear friend before she moved out of state, dinners with friends, dates with Brian and a lunch where I was officially offered my current job. I'll add today's meal to my list.


From left: Annie, Suzanne, Bonnie, Lori, Denise, Cory, Karen and Diane.

Bug off

When I arrived home from work this evening, Brian was excited to show me a few pictures he had snapped of dozens of bees on blossoms in our garden. I love the soft light he captured and asked if I could post it here on my blog. "Yep. That's why I took them for you!" What a sweetie.

When I uploaded this pic onto my computer tonight, I also noticed a little green bug in addition to the bees. A praying mantis, perhaps?


Brian and I spent a couple of hours doing yard work, which didn't exactly thrill Lilly, who would've preferred that we play catch. Subtle, isn't she? (Note where she placed her Kong after I threw it and while I was trying to quickly slip on my gardening gloves and get back to mowing.)


Dakota, meanwhile, was content to enjoy the gorgeous evening.

To everything there is a season

I love this time of year, when I'm squeezing every last drop of summer while enjoying tastes of fall. It's an odd combination of favorites while Mother Nature eases into the next season. Flip-flops by day, fuzzy socks by night. Flowers blooming, leaves falling. Cherry limeades, sunroof open and a trip to the park. Or homemade chili, Sammy Adams Octoberfest and football on TV.

While the transition's underway, I'm determined to enjoy it as much as I can. I spent my lunch break today, for instance, at the plaza in Riverside Park, one of my favorite Wichita spots. The fountain danced just for me while I soaked up the warm sunshine and Willa Cather's "My Antonia," this month's book club read. I appropriately relished these words today:

"I sat down in the middle of the garden ... and leaned my back against a warm yellow pumpkin ... I kept as still as I could. Nothing happened. I did not expect anything to happen. I was something that lay under the sun and felt it, like the pumpkins, and I did not want to be anything more. I was entirely happy."

Must ... not ... eat ... now

Just as I feared, the sheets of rain that will inevitably poor down on Kansas have put the kibosh on our planned weekend camping trip. I'm sure, though, that we'll be able to find other ways to entertain ourselves. A few of the items on the lofty to-do list: hang out with friends, dine out, see a movie, watch football, play with the pups, kick Brian's butt in Scrabble. I'll also be listening for a phone call that tells me it's time to meet my new nephew! Maybe a rainy weekend doesn't sound so bad, after all.

My contribution to a dinner party will be this Nutter Butter Frozen Peanut Butter Pie. I've never had it before, but Denise recommended it, so I'm sure it's "firkin awesome" just like she promised. When I was putting it together, Dakota & Lilly were stalking me in the kitchen. I'm sure it was the smell of the peanut butter, one of their favorite treats. So I dropped about a teaspoon of peanut butter on top of their kibble, and they scarfed down dinner while I whipped up this pie. Now into the freezer -- and out of sight and out of reach from me and the pups -- it goes.

While I'm sharing recipes, here's another one I'd recommend: Chicken and Peaches Platter. It's a quick and scrumptious dinner (I fixed it for Brian on Wednesday after a swim), and now's a perfect time to make it while the peaches are still juicy and delicious.

My take on Ultimate Frisbee

OK, I know that Ultimate Frisbee really is that exciting non-contact team sport played by ambitious college coeds in intramural leagues near and far.

But this is my (much better) version of Ultimate Frisbee:


My high school sweetheart husband.
Our two crazy-sweet dogs.
A red Kong Frisbee that's a little more than worn in.
Our front lawn.
A warm late-summer evening.
He tosses.
The pups scramble.
We both laugh.
And do it again.

A simple, beautiful thing.
Ultimately so.

Quilt guild, revisited

Tonight was the first month since May that Mom attended quilt guild. It was great to have her back, and she looks better than ever.











She laughed, was inspired and helped me complete this charity baby quilt that she started (and did 90 percent of the work on). It's the second we've finished together, and it will soon go to a baby in need via the Rose Hill Quilt Guild.

We saw dozens of quilts from fellow guild members, including these masterpieces:




My favorite shown during the evening was this one, which dates to the 1880s. What an amazing family heirloom:

Beauty in bloom

After work this evening, I paused at a community garden in the Delano district to admire the simple, striking wonder of flowers in bloom:

"The Earth laughs in flowers."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson