prospectbrooklyn

Another great headline.

2008-05-29T10:33:00.002-04:00

New York to Back Same-Sex Unions From Elsewhere

Yesterday our governer directed all state agencies to revise policies and regulations to recognize marriages performed in other juristictions. Obviously, this is great news. We had already been thinking of taking a trip to California to get married (again), but now there is even more of an incentive to do so. It is still unclear what impact this will have on baby-related stuff- like if both of our names automatically appear on the birth certificate, but even without knowing that it will be nice to have another legal document. Of course it would be great if we didn't have to fly across the country in order to get legal recognition for our relationship, but I do think that day will come. The tide is turning. By then, we will be the most married people ever.

(Thanks, Allen, for the text alerting me to this development. I love you, too!)

The best headline I have seen.

2008-05-28T17:00:00.004-04:00

Monkeys Control Robot Arm With Their Thoughts

And it is real! It comes not from my imagination or the Onion, but from the New York Times. I have not read the story yet; I am still just enjoying the headline. If you want to read about it, you can check it out for yourself here.

I have always feared that one day monkeys and robots would form an alliance. If rats and dolphins hear about this we are really screwed.

Update-with pictures!

2008-05-08T14:45:00.005-04:00

Things have been going well here in Brooklyn. Way back in April L’s sister came for a visit and I neglected to publish a photo of our time with her. This was taken at the Brooklyn Flea, a new flea market close to our neighborhood that specializes in cute/trendy hand made things. Especially things with owls printed on them. Owls are the must-have image this season.

Soon after K’s visit (which was wonderful, as always), was L’s birthday. We had a party at a local bar and tons of people showed up. L is a very popular girl. Here is a photo of her birthday cupcakes just before they went into the oven. They were chocolate, frosted with cream cheese frosting or coconut pecan icing. We don’t have any pictures of them when they were all dressed and ready because we had to run out the door to the party.

Things in the garden are going well. Here is a picture of the radishes. Looking good, huh? I am really proud of them. Everything else is growing right along as well.

This tomato is one grown from seed. It will produce heirloom tomatoes, which I am really excited to eat. Delicious!

Here is an aerial view of my garden. The green bags at the bottom are the strawberry bags that helped drive me into the Strawberry Fever of Winter '08. I will hang them in a few days, once the plants’ roots have gotten established. What you may not be able to tell from this picture is that we have 46 strawberry plants growing on our fire escape. Yes!

This photo reminds me of another one…

This is an aerial view of Martha Stewart’s garden. They look pretty similar to me.

And finally, here is Hazel. Boy is she is cute.

hysterical! JUST KIDDING. Just Kidding. just kidding

2008-04-13T12:28:00.000-04:00

Busy in Brooklyn

2008-04-05T18:55:00.010-04:00

Well, it has been a busy time here in the greatest borough. Spring is now officially here, as told by the calendar (March 20th is my favorite!) and by the weather. As you know, Spring is planting season so I have been busy. Most of my seeds have arrived (I am still waiting for peppers and large leaf basil) and have gotten their start in the seed starter. I have also planted the seeds for the cold weather crops outside (radishes, carrots and greens). Last weekend I spent most of Saturday morning bringing in the planters, amending the soil with compost, and planting seeds. Today I went back and planted successive rows so that the harvest will last longer. Here are my easter egg radish seeds.

I also planted another row of greens. I will plant a third row of greens and a second of carrots next week. These are all the planters so far.

Here are the lilies, coming right along.

This Spring I feel like there are more birds around, or maybe I am just noticing them more for some reason. Anyway, there has been this one little guy who comes every morning and sits on the corner of the fire escape and sings his heart out. The cats love him very much and would like to get to know him better. They sit in the window and chatter at him. It makes them so happy. I have been wanted to put out a bird feeder for our little bird, hoping that he will keep coming back and will bring his friends. We had a bird feeder when we lived in Park Slope, but a chubby squirrel came and destroyed it as he was emptying it of all the seed. So I have been thinking that I should run to Target and get another feeder, but last night decided that I would try to make one instead. Because I hadn't taken out the recycling in a while, we had some liter bottles from seltzer, which I thought would work well. I spent last night crafting the feeder using a plastic bottle and chop sticks. Here is the result of my project.

I hope the bird will be back tomorrow and find all this food. Just in case he wouldn't notice it, I put a little trail of seed from his favorite perching spot to the feeder (approximate distance-4 inches). It is probably not necessary, but I am a human and don't fully understand the ways of the birds.

As if this was not exciting enough...

I have been really interested in urban composting. Because we don't have a yard, this entails having a bin that contains 1,000 red wiggler worms in a bed of moist newspaper in which you place your compostable materials. The worms then eat it and poo it out, creating some of the best compost around. Well, I have been interested in it, but also wary. Plus, there is the expense of it. Worms can be so expensive these days. Well, when I was looking to amend the soil in my planters, I called the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to find out if there was a local place to by worm castings (worm com-poo-st). The gardener help line person told me that the Lower East Side Ecology Center sells the compost at the Union Square Green Market. I went to their website and saw that they were offering a seminar on worm composting, after which the attendees could purchase a worm bin for a mere $10.00. I couldn't pass it up. So. last Wednesday I went to a library in Midtown for the two hour seminar. I sort of expected that I would be the only person there. Well, me, the lecturer, and the crazy lady/man (I think we have all been in a seminar or class with her/him). She was there, but there were also a ton of other people. It was great-very informative and hands on-so we could practice getting a bin set up. Once it started I sent the following text message to Lauren: "I think the 10 dollars INCLUDES the worms! This is the best day ever!" To that, Lauren's response was: "Bring 'em home!" (Isn't she good?)

So, for the bargain basement price of $10 I walked out of there with a worm bin and a pound of worms (which I had to bring home on the subway). I found out at the seminar that the whole program is subsidized by the NYC Department of Sanitation, which I think is really smart. I think the statistic is something like 70% of household garbage is compostable, so this is a great way to keep all of that out of the landfill and to create something useful with it. The whole circle of life is happening right here on Prospect Place. This whole thing may sound crazy, but I am so excited! Here are some photos from that night when I put the bin together.

I am not the only one excited about this project!

If you are interested in reading more about worm composting, check it out here.

L's sister K is here this weekend, which is great. She and L are currently baking chocolate cupcakes that are going to be awesome. And I am starting to smell the delicious smells of dinner cooking. We will try to post some pictures of our time together in the next few days.

I feel it in my bones

2008-03-16T19:26:00.005-04:00

There comes a time in each unpleasant New York season-and I am speaking here of winter and summer, of course- when I just can’t take any more. (See: last two late-Augusts when I heard that the forecast was yet another day of “hot, hazy, and humid” and began crying. I wish I were exaggerating.) Well, this winter feels like it has been a long one. Maybe it is because most of it was spent waiting for, experiencing or recuperating from some type of surgery. Also, it has been pretty cold, but there has been barely any snow. What is the point of all the grey, cold, and wind if you don’t get to wake up the next day to a world transformed into beautiful, quiet brilliance? Last week I finally hit my breaking point. I just got overtired of being cold and of the biting wind and the cold rain (I mean really-rain has NO PLACE in winter).

Luckily for me, I had a very exciting and special treat waiting for me. As you may know, I love to garden. It is certainly challenging in New York, but it is not impossible. Where there is a fire escape and lax local fire authorities, there can be a garden. For Christmas this year, L’s mama gave me one of the most perfect gifts ever …a seed starter bio-dome and a gift certificate for a seed company. On Christmas morning I spent hours pouring over the seed catalogue thinking and dreaming about all the possibilities. At that point it was still too early for action, but last week, when I was at that breaking point, it was finally time to choose and order seeds for spring!

Our good friend M is also an avid urban gardener and she and I decided to start a seed cooperative. We are calling it “The Small Plot Seed Cooperative.” Our tag line (for the back of our imaginary shirts) will have a graphic of a fire escape and the words, “Escape New York.” At present our cooperative has a membership of two, but everyone has to start small right? In addition to coming up with our name and tag line, we also (and some might say more importantly) decided on our seeds and plants for this year.

Our overall concept can be captured in a single word: strawberries. We both got very excited about a product called “Growin’ Bags” that grow strawberries vertically- a very nice feature when space is an issue. So we both got a bit overexcited and decided to order a lot of strawberries- too many, in fact, for me to share the number here because I feel embarrassed. All I can say is that we were gripped by what I can only describe as strawberry fever – a virus for which there is no vaccine, nor cure. I am predicting a bumper crop this year.

I made our order on Friday afternoon and in addition to strawberries I also ordered:
Italian basil
Red Ruben basil
Carrots
Radishes
Salad greens
Heirloom tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes
Peppers
Lemon grass (for the cats)
Cosmos (for L)

Wow, making that list it seems like a lot of crops, but I swear I really held myself back. Honestly.

So now I wait for the seeds to arrive and to bring Spring with them. Although, I know it is around the corner. I can feel it trying to break through the cold. And if I needed anymore proof, I noticed this today…

These are the beginnings of my tiger lilies, which L found on the street two autumns ago and brought home with her. (We seem to get a lot of stuff that way.)

And I am not the only one excited for gardening season. As I was coming back into the house after taking the above picture, this is what I was faced with.

And just for good measure, this is the beautiful sunset tonight. Surprisingly, New York has some of the most beautiful sunsets ever. The sun setting over New Jersey looks better than it sounds.

Update and love.

2008-02-15T15:42:00.005-05:00

H. had a 2nd opinion yesterday and it was the best possible outcome - no surgery!!! She needs to soak it every day so the large scab will come off, and the bad news was that this doctor did not think her swollen finger would reduce in size dramatically. Which is disappointing since it is currently almost double in width. But no surgery that is wonderful

We also had a wonderful valentines day yesterday: we went to whole foods and made dinner at home - ribs, mashed potatoes, salad, and sundaes with fresh berries and homemade chocolate. The dinner was excellent if we do say so ourselves and we were so stuffed that niether of us could finish our sundaes... it was the height of yumminess.

These are the pussy willows that H. gave me - much better then roses - I think.
I hope everyone else had a wonderful day in whatever form you celebrate.

They've done it again...

2008-02-13T12:25:00.002-05:00

Kitchen-Floor Conflict Intensifies As Rival House Cats Claim Same Empty Bag

MAPLEWOOD, MO—"It is beginning to appear that any long-term solution may have to involve deployment of the disciplinary squirt bottle," said one U.N. investigator.

Gettin' Crafty

2008-02-12T13:03:00.000-05:00

So we have been inspired by design shows and we have gone crafty in our house. I wanted to share our efforts.

We needed new pillows for the bed so we purchased this great quilt fabric and made our own covers in sort of a modern quilt pattern:

AND our biggest and most proud accomplishment is that we rehabbed an old dresser and made a t.v. stand out of it. We recieved a wonderful t.v. for christmas by combining gift cards from best*buy (thank you everyone!!), and since then have been trying to figure out how to incorporate the large t.v. into our living room without it completely taking over. We had the TV on H's old 3-drawer dresser but realized that it would be better to have it lower to the ground. Everything I read said the t.v. should be at eye level. So we went to ikea on friday night to get ideas and also to look at chairs (because I think we need to replace the giant chair in our living room-but that is another story). There were tons of opitions but all in the $150 price range - which we were not too excited about...... so........ this dresser that previously had 3 drawers:

turned into this:

I wish we had better pictures of the before, unfortunetely we thought of that AFTER we cut off the two top drawers. Here is what we did: removed the top, cut off the 2 top drawers (that were always a pain to use because they stuck so badly and made H. cry on more than one morning), re-attached the top, and then attached the shelving we made to house the components. It was really great, we both were so proud of ourselves - I was mainly the measurer and planner and H. was in charge of the jig-sawing and various other production skills - it was so fun. I now have visions of chopping up other furniture to make it perfect. We found a green alternative to buying something new, and it was considerably cheaper-about 20 dollars in paint and new handles. Also I have found a website I am obsessed with. We ended up painting our new t.v. stand a deep purple, which from afar looks black or brown but up close is definately purple - It ended up looking realitively modern.

Also, for those who love surgical matters, here is Hazel's incision from being fixed. I am hoping this is the last of our surgery stories to be posted on the blog - I guess we will know for sure on thursday. Yikkes - I hope Hazel's was the last. 3 surgeries in 30 days is enough.

Hazel did great for her surgery (as it said on the bottom of her discharge papers-highlighted and with three exclamation points!!!) and she has not really been bothering the stiches, except in the beginning when I was sure was saying to herself...."what happened? I always have a furry belly and now I don't. What the ???" She looked so bewildered. It must be very strange to wake up and to want to clean up only to lick something that does not feel like any belly you have ever licked. She was so very cute. However...a word to anyone who wants to adopt a kitty... .don't rescue someone from the street - it ends up being very expensive because you don't get any shelter deals - it is cheaper to adopt through a kitty rescue-she is now in the 800 dollar range - but she is priceless.

Also I wanted to give a picture of sadie lovin on her. Despite her surgery she is a happy kitty, mainly because she loves her sisters so very much, and she has also discovered that she likes to sit in laps!!!

Please define "DONE"

2008-02-11T12:16:00.000-05:00

Well, as most of you know, L and I have been recovering from our collective surgeries. While the actual surgeries are finished, the surgical procedures were just the beginning. Here is the truth that people may not tell you… surgery and subsequent recovery is HARD. And, frankly, it hurts. I think L and I both underestimated how long it would take to recover (Hazel is the only one who seems to be back to 100% after being spayed on 1/31). Even though laparoscopic surgery is far better and less intrusive that having a larger incision, it is still a big deal that takes a long time to recover from. L is still in pain when she sits too long, or has to lean over. And even though a pinky finger is the smallest of all fingers, putting screws and cadaver bone into it is a big shock to the little guy. I can’t straighten or bend my finger, and still have a large scab type thing that won’t go away.

This brings me to the current issue … I saw the surgeon today for a follow-up. The x-rays look good and the joint is now healed with all its new accoutrements, but he is concerned that the skin is not recovering more quickly. (Though he took some photos, I won’t favor you with them here.) He said that it is unusual for the skin to take this long to heal and said that we might need to consider a skin graft. Yes, you read that right: ANOTHER SURGERY. I have scheduled a second opinion, at his suggestion, and will see another hand surgeon on Thursday. I just can’t understand why my skin isn’t healing better. It scares me that there might be some larger health problem that is keeping my skin from healing. I know that I am prone to “worst-case” thinking when it comes to health issues (just ask L’s sister K who has explained to me at least ten times why every headache I have is NOT an aneurism). But really, why isn’t my body healing?

After the appointment, I went to Whole Foods and bought every supplement I could find that might have any impact on healing/growing skin. I just want to feel like I can do something to support my body and hopefully avoid another surgery. I will let you all know how it goes on Thursday. Hopefully I will get some good news.

Until then, L’s last post about being done makes me feel a little like George Bush in a flight suit standing beneath the “Mission Accomplished” banner.

It is DONE!

2008-01-26T20:01:00.000-05:00

The surgery is over, and it went well. They did not have to do a big cut, the whole cyst is out, I have my left ovary, and I am not in too much pain. It has been a full week now since the surgery and I am just feeling like myself again. I think basically surgery is a ton of trauma to your body and the pain is for me just becoming really okay and manageable. I have been trying to get off the pain killers and I thought yesterday would be my first drug free day, but by the end of last night I was in a lot of pain, so today I am not setting my self up to fail, but I really just want to rely on Motrin. I have been mainly sitting in an overstuffed chair or lying down in bed or on the couch. Not a bad life really - just not for me. Especially when watching all the design t.v. shows - I just want to get up and move around furniture, paint something, or sew something.

My work friends sent me this, which was so nice, thoughtful and delicious:

I am sure they are wanting me to come on back. I have another 2 weeks of medical leave and I think I will take all of it. Just really to take it easy and be careful with my self. Also I have yet to accomplish the task of leaving the house, which is on the table for tomorrow. I want to feel pretty good before I head back to work where I will be running from court to court and on my feet almost all day.

This is what the physical therapist put on H's finger/hand. She has not received very much therapy per se, i.e. none, and we are hoping the next visit she actually learns to move her finger, because she does not have a lot of mobility at this point:

And this is the most updated finger picture - still not pretty but healing!

So Much for a Quick Update

2008-01-15T18:57:00.000-05:00

I am sorry it has been so long with no update about H.'s finger. The surgery itself went well. She was supposed to be in "Twilight" but was expressing during the surgery that she was in pain so they put her under general anesthesia. Two pins and some cadaver bone later she has been doing pretty well the last 2 weeks. She has been experiencing a good amount of pain, and she has had to rely on pain medication which she does not like. Most of the options are not great, with Vicodin being the biggest loser.
Yesterday H.'s cast came off. Sadly we did not get pictures of her in it. But we did get a picture this morning of her finger. It is not pretty folks, not pretty... but the Dr. said he thought that it was healing, and he was happy she had feeling in the tip of her finger. I am going to post it in a different post with a password, in case you don't want to see at all, or at this time. (*** Update I can't do a password protect on one post in Blogger - I am very disappointed about that - And just spent the last couple of minutes looking at other hosts - there maybe a blog move in our future. For now, H.s finger is at the bottom of this post. You are warned.) I am very sensitive to injuries to the hands (those of you who know me well, know that i am against all torture, but I really hate it on t.v. when someones hands are being tortured.... ughhh...)
More posts to come soon I promise. For real. I will be home for the next 3 weeks because of my surgery on thursday and I honestly can't imagine how I am going to fill my time. Ellen is only on t.v. for one hour. That leaves 9 other hours without company save our dear kitties.
xo
L.

A New Year (whats a couple surgeries among friends)

2008-01-02T09:59:00.000-05:00

We had a hard time gearing up and celebrating New Years this year. It is hard with our surgeries to feel like this year is getting off to a good start. It is actually more a bit bumpy. On Monday we learned that H. is going to have surgery on Weds(today) in the afternoon. We sat at 6:30 on New Years eve completely unexcited for at least the next month, and unable to see what else the world held for us in 2008. Then with a stroke of genius H. said, well you will most likely get pregnant in 2008 and we might even have our baby - now that was something we could celebrate. We from that moment on had a wonderful celebration. We went to K.K. and K.S's house, drank a good amount of champagne and then went up to prospect park to watch the fireworks. It was a good show, and there was a great James Brown cover. It felt like a celebration. Yesterday we rang in the New Year with brunch with our dear friends P.L and M.B (and M.B.'s sister and partner). It was fun to talk about what the year holds for them as they are getting married and we could not be happier for them. We also went grocery shopping and went home with all our goods. I proceeded to cook up a storm. We now have Potato leek soup, roasted chicken and risotto, and homemade cinnamon ice cream for H. to eat after her surgery today. Yes. I was trying to comfort via food.
It this moment I am hopeful that the surgery will be very successful, and actually relieve some pain for H. She has been so uncomfortable. I will post an update soon.

When it rains it pours

2007-12-28T18:58:00.000-05:00

Well, first off I did not have my surgery today. I got bumped because there was an emergency surgery and also my surgeon has to cover for someone who called out sick. So it is rescheduled for 1/17/08 - Which seems so far away and I am not too happy about that.
Also, H. broke her finger while we were in VT sledding (full xmas update to come). It is broken right in the joint and the bone shatters are impacted into the joint. It actually looks like she will have to have surgery. That's right, you heard me, she might have to have surgery. H.'s finger is purple, yellow, very sensitive to the touch and it just doesn't look right. The emergency doctor at NYU joint hospital gave her Vicodin, and the surgeon today said she should take it when she is in pain. It has been helping a lot but it has also been making her a bit out of it.
So it looks like she will have her surgery before mine so the upside of my surgery being postponed is that we can focus on her hand. The downside of course will be that her hand will be immobilized for 4 - 6 weeks so it is unclear how much she will be able to do around the house after my surgery. Time for the cats to earn their keep.
It is all crazy. We have each had a CT scan in the span of 3 weeks and it looks like we will both have a surgery in the month of January. We are of course ever grateful that we have good insurance and are just sort of shaking our heads at the craziness of this all.

oh so much to say

2007-12-13T18:04:00.000-05:00

We have not been posting. I am sorry. We have been going through so much and now feel ready to share with all of you. It all started because we were planning a secret attempt of getting pregnant. We were thinking we would inseminate in early December and we were so excited. Maybe naive. Definitely hopeful. We wanted this.

Instead, we go to see the RE and she sees a cyst that is really big and she thinks we can still go forward but wants to get it checked out, just in case. One week and tons of ultrasounds later (more then can be counted on a hand), we leave her office with the knowledge that maybe tomorrow (last Tuesday) we can start inseminating and being told "call back in the afternoon for your blood results and I just want to check with the oncologists." I call back and am told "this cycle is off, you have to get a CT and meet with the fancy dancy oncologists." F*ck. Now, everything is so scary. Cancer? Surgery? Can we still go to CO and VT for the holidays? Everything was up in the air for another week.

It turns out I have a cyst the size of a grapefruit between my bladder and my left ovary.

We went to the oncologist yesterday. Young, so nice, so smart oncologist says yes, surgery. No question about that. She does not think it is cancer. She really did not even focus on that - which i am taking as a good sign, although she will do tests once its out. I really liked the surgeon and the facility in general. So, no pregnancy to report here. Just a surgery happening on 12/28.

To say that H. and I have been praying and hoping that good good news comes to us is an understatement. The best thing about all of this is my wife. She has been amazing, I don't know what I would have done with out her. I feel that always, but this has just made me appreciate her so much. I feel like that sentence does no justice to how I have been feeling about her. What a perfect partner in life I have. (If you know me well, you know I am tearing up as I write this.) Family and the handful of friends who know about all of this have been wonderful too. We have been surrounded by a band of angels.

Still scared, still praying, still hopeful for good news here. We are mostly so happy to know the next step. I will be out of work for at least 3 weeks after the surgery (more if they have to do an incision) so there will be many more posts. Meanwhile we are so happy to be going to our families. We know good food, tons of laughter and family time with be restorative to us both. We need this next two weeks.

Here is our Christmas tree.

Here is Ellie doing a glamour shot

Hazel is loving sleeping under the tree. It is so so cute. I just might have to send this picture to here it is so cute. She also loves to "play" with the ornaments and she has discovered that she loves to eat popcorn-right off the tree of course. (You might have noticed the bottom of our tree looks a bit sparse.)

and here are Hazel and Sadie who have discovered that it is really not that bad to cuddle (all of Hazel's hard work and persistance in the persuit of snuggles is finally paying off!)

So if you pray, believe in cosmic energy, please send it out to me and H. in two weeks. I write this post ready for our band of angels to get a bit larger and with so much happiness that, while it seems this will be a process and likely a bit (or more) scary, at least it is not cancer. As H.'s Busia would say, "This too shall pass." If we don't post again soon, Happy Holidays everyone.
L.

Trees and garland for all!

2007-11-23T18:06:00.000-05:00

We had such a good Thanksgiving feast yesterday. Wonderful family friends, really good gluten-free food for H., and tons of laughter and silly games. (Although our team still contends that "The US Guide to Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Sinks" is not a fair charades entry. Though we did rock it.) Yesterday it was so foggy and drippy and this morning it was bright and snowing. Perfect for picking out a Christmas tree!!!

(L.'s family traditional day after thanksgiving activity missing K.H. sadly because she had to go back to work in Boston.)

L.'s family found the "perfect tree" and staked their claim with the customary tacky garland so others would know this tree is spoken for and so the tree knows it is loved. While we where there, we decided to pick up a Vermont grown, fresh tree to take down to Brooklyn.

We will post some decorated tree pictures soon - Hopefully not to be destroyed by over excited kitties.

And now for something completely different

2007-11-20T11:29:00.000-05:00

I just found this photoblog and am completely fascinated. It is called "Express Train" and the subject, as you may have guessed, is the NYC Subway system in all its glory. Here is the link and an example of what you will find there. http://www.travisruse.com/

Like I said before, the subway attracts and repels me all at once. Some of the photos are beautiful, some are ridiculous, and some just do a great job of showing what it is like to slog through the subway everyday. Hope you enjoy it!

Here we come!

2007-11-19T10:32:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to share these photos we received from L's Mama. For those of you who may not yet be convinced that Vermont is spectacular, I submit these as evidence...

All this beauty + time with family + turkey = a lot to be thankful for

um..... too funny.

2007-11-07T11:41:00.000-05:00

I love this. And I have to say that there are not enough raps about ol' vt and I support this one. H. sent to me, and it was the perfect thing to make me laugh out loud after a morning at court. Thanks for seeing it, sweetpea! If you want to see the article look at the article in the NY Times

Reasons to Celebrate

2007-11-05T17:05:00.000-05:00

Today we went to the psychologist. She was a required step by our Reproductive Endocrinologist. Although at first we were put off by the fact that our parenthood had to be scrutinized, it was really good to go see her. We had a great conversation about all aspects of our conception and parenthood. Which is uncharted territory in our lives; however, not in the world for sure and we have been really enjoying reading ton's of lesbian mom blogs to see what others are doing (thank you to all of you out there - I have been lurking and gathering a ton of support from you all).

Of course we have have been talking about our future babies for a long time now. We know that H. will be called mom and me mama, we have talked about how we will talk about the donor to our children, and on and on we have talked. But it was really nice to talk to someone else about all this, and she seemed to think we were right on track.

Also, the best outcome of the meeting, was her questioning us about our families and our support networks. We always know we are lucky to have such a wonderful community, BUT....

We are so lucky. Really lucky. Really to the point of making me teary lucky.

Both of our families are excited about an up coming pregnancy. I returned to my office to get an email from one of my "besties" saying congrats on starting prenatal vitamins with the most xoxo's possible. We have a community to bring this not yet conceived baby into.

We were so happy we went to go have coffee and I thought of this place near our doctor, http://www.serendipity3.com/ , and we had coffee but we also shared the biggest sundae known to man. (Sometimes, it is really good to be a tourist in your own town.)After all we were celebrating our life, we have so much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to. We know we are going into stressful times, for sure, and we are so thankful to everyone who will be with us on this journey towards babyhood.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The little purchase for a BIG reason

2007-11-03T22:53:00.000-04:00

We just wanted to let all of you know that today we purchased prenatal vitamins that L. will begin taking tomorrow. I can't believe it! So we are almost set to start trying to get pregnant. We are so excited for this new chapter and will keep you all updated as we go along.

The Brooklyn Bridge: uphill both ways, downhill both ways

2007-10-26T16:56:00.000-04:00

In an effort to be healthy and to enjoy the beautiful fall weather, I have been riding my bike to work instead of taking the subway. I have only done it a few times so far, but overall I love it. How many people can say that they see the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the Brooklyn Bridge on their way to work? You can see the views for yourself...

Brooklyn ---------------------------------- Lower Manhattan

Since I moved to New York I have had a love/hate relationship with the subway. On the one hand, it can be very fast and efficient, you can go out for the night and not have to worry about a designated driver, and you can see and interact with every type of person you can imagine. Once I got on the subway and noticed on the bench across from me a nun, a woman in a burka, a wall street looking guy, a woman who looked like she was on drugs, and a Rastafarian dad with his two dreadlocked kids - I just had to smile to see all of them sitting there shoulder to shoulder. That wouldn't happen in any other setting I can think of.

Tiny Statue of Liberty cheering me on

On the other hand, as the name implies, the subway goes underground. It is sad and a little disorienting to get on the subway on a beautiful evening, only to get off after the sun has set and it is dark outside. Also, as I mentioned above, you can interact with every person imaginable, sometimes against your will. There are days when I have to get on a packed train after work, stand pressed against my fellow New Yorkers for my entire commute and I just want to cry.

I consider it a major bonus to be able to stay above ground for my entire commute. And, not having to spoon with a stranger is gravy.

baby dreams

2007-10-25T19:25:00.001-04:00

Today I am obsessed with getting pregnant. Partly to avoid work, I did so much "research" on baby slings. I want to have one and more importantly a baby to put into it. It was relatively silly at one point when I got on the phone and debated with H. about which one is the best for newborns, and which is the best for toddlers.
I love that she is able to take me seriously at times like these.
In positive news on the baby front, (besides that we have its first baby carrier picked out) we have an appointment with the required psychologist and I talked to the RE today to confirm procedure. It all is coming together.
January can not come soon enough.

Kitten paws in our faces.

2007-10-24T12:14:00.000-04:00

This is too funny and a bit too much like every morning at our house. Imagine this times 3.

Fall is HERE!!!

2007-10-13T13:32:00.001-04:00

This is from the Onion - Why, why are they so funny? I post it because, we are experiencing now for the first time fall weather. Last weekend K.H. was here, we went to the beach, and it felt weird ordering a 3-in-1 winter jacket from LLbean. (It is so chilly right now that I have checked the tracking status 3 times in the last two days.) Autumn is my favorite season, perhaps because it is pretty in Vermont, or because I see it as a start to a new year because it was when we all went back to school. I now just want to settle in, bake and perhaps watch a movie. I am of course working tonight but I did make homemade bread for H.Mclhibbertian's breakfast. I am already thinking of the apple crisp I am going to make tomorrow after our Sunday hike. This weather is causing us to close the windows and the radiators are on in all their hissing glory. It is wonderful. I am not complaining about last weekend's weather either though.... there is something wonderful and strange about going to the beach on the 1st weekend of October.

We actually went in the water, and it was wonderful, chilly but not unreasonably so. It was so good to get those last wave jumping needs out of our systems before autumn really hit.

I love The Onion

2007-10-13T11:46:00.000-04:00

Sometimes they go too far, but sometimes they get it just right. This story made me laugh out loud.

New Heart Device Allows Cheney To Experience Love

WASHINGTON, DC —"He broke free from the straps that secured him to the bed as he normally does after heart surgery. But then he hugged me," Cheney's cardiologist said.

Neighborhood Pride

2007-10-02T22:48:00.000-04:00

We live in a diverse and fascinating neighborhood with such disparities between classes and we are part of the gentrifying group. Our neighborhood is comfortable and we love it even if and perhaps because it is not fancypants. We see this man frequently, this picture was taken on our block, and we park our car every day right where the photographer is standing. The amazing thing about this city is that although we "knew" this man by his face and pedi-cab, we had no idea that he actually gave rides in it, nor did we know any of his back story. You can read his whole story here, in the New York Times, how they knew to do a story on him is a mystery.

Evidence of a closeness

2007-09-30T16:27:00.000-04:00

The big ones are starting to tolorate her better.... who wouldn't when she looks like this?

An Example of Courage and Hope

2007-09-30T16:18:00.001-04:00

most of you may have seen this, but for those of you who have not you should really watch it, and grab a tissue.

Why aren't there any pictures of L. on the blog?

2007-09-30T15:22:00.000-04:00

I figured some of you might be asking yourselves this, and I don't want to disappoint!

In Chicago last November and her new(ish) haircut.

Isn't she adorable?

Our creepiest hike, to date

2007-09-30T13:56:00.000-04:00

The weather this weekend was perfect for being outside. Lauren and I decided to jump in the car on Saturday to find adventure in the woods. With the help of our trusty hiking guidebook, we chose to go on a hike in Long Island, at a place called Muttontown Preserve. Given the name "Muttontown" it may seem unlikely that it could end up being creepy, or that at times Lauren and I were both secretly scared, but, alas, it is true. Here is where we started the hike, when we did not yet know what lay ahead. This guidebook (60 Hikes within 60 Miles of New York, a wedding gift from Deb Westcott) has been our tried and true favorite for hikes. It described the "Muttontown Mystery Trail" as having easy terrain (which would be true if you stay on the trails) and taking 1.5 hours to do the complete loop. The big selling point for me was that the trail leads to ruins of an old 60-room granite palace that was built in 1907, then purchased in 1951 by King Zog (yes, that is his real name), of Albania with buckets of rubies and diamonds.

First, the map must have been drawn by a third-grader (nothing against third-graders) and the trail markings were done 40 years ago by their younger sibling; they were impossible to read. These facts coupled with the issue that the park was set to close 30 minutes after we got there led to us making a series of misguided decisions.

Because of my nagging fear that we were going to be told to leave by park officials (though we did not see any evidence that any even existed-but they can be tricky that way) we set off the find the ruins on the other side of the park as quickly as possible, and on the least traveled paths. (First, we had the good sense to move our car outside of the gates to avoid being trapped...more on this later.) This led to some bushwhacking and getting turned around completely. With a map that was almost completely useless, we never knew exactly where we were, or which turns we should make or avoid. After both being scared about getting so lost we finally made it to the ruins just as it was getting dark under the canopy of trees. As we were hiking a long looking for the ruins, not knowing what to expect, they came up out of nowhere. Adding to the creepy factor was that everywhere that we looked there were disjointed pieces of the mansion covered in a sea of ivy. It was like the ivy was taking the building back.
So, we should mention is that the palace was destroyed by treasure hunters who were convinced that King Zog hid Albania's wealth there. Also, the skeleton of a woman curled up in the fetal position was found under a tree in 2001. It was determined it was a murder, and it remains UNSOLVED....Hopefully these pictures give a taste of the creepiness, but truly do not do justice to how it felt being there. It felt as though we were cloaked in a mantel of darkness (sorry, I'm reading Harry Potter right now). And we knew that we were alone because the park was closed...or were we?

After taking some photos and not talking about how we both thought a madman could be lurking, we decided to be brave and make our way back through the park to the car. We passed a walled garden, that frankly we were both too freaked out to try to find the entrance. Finally we made it back to were we started safe and sound. But trapped. I thought there was a break in the fence that we could leave though, there was not. We could see our car on the other side of the locked gates, and all we wanted was to be in it. After two failed attempts to climb over the fence, Lauren scrambled over the gate using the lock as a step. And I, well, you can see...

Once we got to the car, we broke out our beef jerky and decided we had never been so happy to be in the Champ. We decided to drive up to the ocean to cleanse ourselves of Muttontown. We can't wait to go back in the winter with our snowshoes!

H. says me too!!

2007-09-26T20:27:00.000-04:00

so this is our blog together. and to introduce her is this picture featuring her new haircut and hazel.

why not me?

2007-09-26T14:22:00.000-04:00

new to blogging here but as i said to A.H. today.... everyone is doing it so why not me. i hope that this is a useful tool and that i get into it. i am sure it will be mainly cat pictures here for a while, but who knows maybe something exciting will happen, wink, wink.