Post 100!

We went to the doctor again today. Baby is happy and healthy and alive and kicking! They couldn't get the heartbeat by doppler, which apparently is very common this early on in the pregnancy (especially given my weight), but of course, I panicked, so they did an ultrasound. The little one was right there, looking more human than ever, heart beating strong. He/she had a hand up, as if to say "Hey!" It reminded me a lot of when we had our first look at Brian. We are both getting a feeling that this may be a girl, but who knows, really. Surgery will be in 4 weeks--they are scheduling it with the hospital and will call me with the date in the next couple of days. I am freaking out a little bit, but I know it's worth it in the end.

"Strawberry Fields is anywhere you want to go."

J.L.

My hero too.

- Jim

The Day the Music Died

In Memory of the greatest musician of all time and my hero, John Lennon, who died 26 years ago today.

NEW YORK - John Lennon's widow is calling for the anniversary of his death to become a day of worldwide healing.

In a full-page advertisement appearing Sunday in The New York Times, Yoko Ono urges readers to mark the anniversary by apologizing to those who have suffered because of violence and war.

"Every year, let's make December 8th the day to ask for forgiveness from those who suffered the insufferable," writes the musician's widow, who signs the letter with the name Yoko Ono Lennon.

In the open letter, Ono urges readers to take responsibility for failing to intervene on behalf of victims around the world.

"Know that the physical and mental abuse you have endured will have a lingering effect on our society," she writes in a portion of the letter directed to victims. "Know that the burden is ours."

Ono was with the former Beatle when he was gunned down as he returned home from a recording studio on Dec. 8, 1980. The shooter, Mark David Chapman, remains in New York's Attica state prison. His fourth request for parole was denied last month.

Of her own loss, Ono says: "I don't know if I am ready yet to forgive the one who pulled the trigger. ... But healing is what is urgently needed now in the world."

"Let's wish strongly that one day we will be able to say that we healed ourselves, and by healing ourselves, we healed the world."

At about 4:20PM we went for a drive around town to take some more pictures. Here they are!

N.B.: Ignore the different date on these - I had to date them the 2nd to post them seperately from the ones taken earlier.

Tremont Under Snow

Snow!

Wow!!! Winter has most emphatically "taken a seat" here in Tremont, Illinois! Yesterday at about 8:00PM, after a day of freezing rain and temperatures between 25 and 28 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 2-4 Celsius) it began to snow, and did not stop until about 11:00AM this morning.

Amy was due at work at 7:45am today - luckily I had a day off - so we rose at about 7:25am and went out to exhume the car. As soon as I started scraping and shoveling, I became quite convinced that Tremont United Methodist Childcare Center would be Amy-less, if not entirely staff-less for the day, but from her vantage point inside the car (a crucial difference!) Amy thought we could make it out. And she was right, and so was I. What does that mean? It means we made it about eight feet out, before the car ran aground (or "asnow") and Amy's phone rang. It was 7:43, and it was Jennifer, the manager of the Childcare Center, to tell Amy that school was called off. I have never desired to actually murder anyone - something I like to mention on my resume - but at that moment my numbed, frostbitten hands could easily have scuttled down to the Methodist Church and strangled Jennifer. Had that happened, I don't think I could have been held responsible. My hands however, would have been sentenced to anything from 15-25 years, and I would have had to visit twice a month, and smuggle in little bottles of peony moisturiser inside cakes, and my hands would have a simply awful time. You know hard it is to play the harmonica without lips? Anyway, almost 12 inches of snow fell last night, and the result was pretty spectacular, and spectacular, and also pretty. You might remember THIS POST HERE from back in March when we were in Hopedale. Well, as the pictures below show, we got a little more of the frozen stuff this time.

Here are some photos for you all!

"Let it snow, let it snow, let it... stop!"




Hope you enjoyed them! We may take a few more later, and stay tuned: we have a special baby scan and Christmas tree double-posting coming very soon! Until then, hope you are all well and safe.

SNOW IS FLIPPIN' EXCITING!!!!