Thanksgiving Photos

CLICK HERE to go to our album of Thanksgiving photos at Shutterfly. There are also pics from my October Baltimore trip.

Fun with the Hartmans

Our dear friends, Tammy and Dan (and baby Donovan), invited us over for a post-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving feast on Sunday. We were so excited to go because (1) we enjoy these people, and (2) one can never have too much Thanksgiving food. So, after a lengthy computer armoire assembly project on Sunday, we cleaned up and headed over for some great food. The boys were stumped over how to best carve a tender turkey, but we soon decided that it doesn't really matter how you carve it because it's going to end up chewed anyway!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 381 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Painting

We're trying to think of (or create) positives out of the hellish week we've had. One is that now that I'm not pregnant, we can paint the house and not worry about the fumes. So yesterday, on impulse, we stopped by Home Depot to look at paint swatches. We ended up with one called Camel, which is the greenish, yellowish beige you see above (that's our bedroom, above).It goes perfectly with the bed set we ordered from JCPenney's (above). Together with the furniture mom bought us from Costco (Kona; below), we should be living in style once it all arrives (which should be soon!).Then today, we went to Bed Bath and Beyond and got the window coverings (Versailles by Arley, below). We need to let the hems out a couple of inches before we can actually hang them, but I think they're going to be beautiful. I'm so proud of us for being productive! On the other hand, domestic productivity has left Ken behind with his classwork, so that's not good. We can't win!

On the how we're doing front, time is helping to lessen the sting. I've gotten a lot of comfort from the Grief & Loss message boards at BabyCenter.com. Miscarriage is such a common thing, but it's a downer and often very private, so people don't really talk about it in "regular life." So having people to communicate with who are experiencing the same thing, or have in the past and have gone on to have healthy babies, is very helpful. In fact, I really don't like talking about it with people who haven't gone thru it. Grief is universal and we've all felt that, but beyond that, the connection stops ... unless you've been there. Been here. Funny how things happen in life that, unexpected moments, that change you forever. For better or worse. Not sure which this is yet. Maybe both.

Thank you!

Thanks to those who sent beautiful flowers. The bouquet on the left is from the Hogan Foundation (thanks for the poem, Mr. Hogan; such a literary talent!). And the planter box below is from my work. For those who are following, we're doing OK. I haven't felt much like chatting, so I've mostly been ignoring the phone, but we appreciate your emails and prayers. We'll be 'round again soon.

It's Over

Well, unfortunately, our pregnancy is over. We went for our 11/12-week OB appointment this morning, and the baby apparently stopped growing about a month ago (a few days after the last appointment) and there was no heartbeat. I'm scheduled for a D&C this afternoon. So, the baby news will be on hold for a while...

Borat

We saw the new movie "Borat" as a screening before it was released, and we were absolutely horrified with it. Ken, who, like most men, retains a bit of teenage boy in his soul, liked it more than I did, but he was nonetheless horrified by its crassness. Now to learn that it was more of a fake documentary than a scripted movie, and that most of the participants were unaware that Borat was a fictional character, makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. Especially disgusting is the way people in other countries who are poor and have less experience and knowledge about slimy Hollywood antics were taken advantage of. I mean, paying a poverty-stricken Romanian villager $4 to let a cow use their already-modest living room as a toilet is outrageous. I hope somebody comes up with a way to gut 20th Century Fox for this. People are going to see the movie just to see what all the hype is about, but I hope a greater sense of decency creates a painful backlash for them. Comedian or not, Cohen is just as guilty, if not more so, than anyone else. Hurting people is NOT funny. We're supposed to look out for widows, children and the poor, not use them for our selfish gain. The whole thing is so disgusting that I feel physically sick. Sooner or later, they will be punished, I believe God's punishment will be the most fair, whatever He may choose.

Phoenix

Somehow we managed to leave Phoenix with no actual pictures of US after our weekend visit with Kent and Pam. They took a couple on their camera, so we're looking forward to getting copies of those. However, I did manage to get a surprisingly good shot of the gorgeous sunset (view from their back yard). Nice, huh?

Simi School Fair

The day after our costume party at The Place, the band headed over to entertain fair-goers at the Simi school harvest fair. Fun was had by all, Ken reports.