Mystery bird

Points to the person who can correctly identify this bird, last seen in a tree behind out house. I've scoured birding sights online, but short of going through lists hundreds of birds in length, I give up and ask for help!

Our little jumping bean

This morning Joe and I went for a second ultrasound. We got to see the baby moving around, saw its little hands and fingers, part of its spine, its skull, two arms and two legs. The best part was seeing it move around. One moment, it was still; the next, it sprung up, just like a little mexican jumping bean! BOING! Perhaps it had hiccups.

In this picture you can see the head and four little fingers like the baby is sucking his thumb. You can also see bones of the other arm (closest to you).

Probably no more ultrasounds until the end of July when I'll be at 20 weeks and when we'll find out if our little bean is a he or a she!

A little light reading

This afternoon, after a little while in the sun, Indi came inside and decided to do a little light reading. As you can see, all the excitement was just too much for her.


Before too long, the book's drama got the best of her.


She says tomorrow she might some Tolstoy. War and Peace, anyone?

No more barren wasteland

This past weekend, Joe and I tackled a LONG overdue project - we spruced up our front flower beds. No more boxwoods (they were dying and ugly) and no more weeds. We have otto luykens, emerald-n-gold euynomus and loropetalum. I also added some annuals to planters on the front steps, along with three "empty" planters that will hopefully bear some basil, poppies and lavender. I'm just glad the boxwoods are gone!

Mmmm... peanut butter!

Classic Indi pose

Baby news!

So, this post is a little late... about 10 weeks late, but better late than never! Joe and I are going to be parents in December (early December - the 7th - but yes, "a Christmas baby")! I'm 10 weeks pregnant and am doing well (despite a week of sinus junk, bronchitis and laryngitis). Salad is still mostly looked upon as evil, pasta is always appealing and tonight I'm craving chicken casserole (something I've never made, nor craved). I take each food-day as it comes and Joe is very understanding - "whatever you'll eat is fine with me."

Below is a picture of our little baby (taken at our first ultrasound at 8 weeks) - in this picture, the baby was the size of a kidney bean. According to my books, today the baby is the size of a plum. Good thing, given the many ways women can react to pregnancy and foods, they always describe the baby's size in terms of food!

Sightings around the lake

Each morning I walk Indi around the lake, and each morning I get to see some nifty birds. These pictures were NOT taken by me (I'm not sure I could handle both the camera and the dog - who likes to chase squirrels), but these will give you a nice (and probably better) idea of what I see each day.


1. American Goldfinches - there are many down here, and you can often see them flying around in small groups, usually consisting of many females being chased by a bright male.

2. Killdeer - I think that's what we have around here. Apparently they're one of the wading birds that doesn't live near water but likes to hang out on golf courses and in cleared areas. We have lots of those around here (golf courses and cleared areas). We see these little guys on the two big fields in between the cafe and stores and the houses. They look like little masked bandits.

3. Red-headed woodpecker - I hear one every morning as a round the lake; there's a section where there are many stumps still standing in the water and there are many birds that have taken up residence in the holes leftover from woodpeckers. I can't tell if the woodpecker I see each day is building a new hole or is trying to attract a female with his current abode.

4. New spotting! Green heron - Again, I think that's what I saw. Indi and I startled something and it flew across the lake and settled in a tree. We walked back quickly to get a closer look and as it flew away the second time, I got a better look at it. I think it was a green heron; we have great blue herons and this one was definitely not one of those.

Other birds seen but not illustrated: bluebirds, mockingbirds, red-bellied woodpeckers, assorted sparrows, swallows, cardinals... all the usual suspects.

Rainforest adventures!

This Friday was my first day volunteering at the Raleigh Science Musuem's tropical rainforest. I'll be meeting and greeting visitors as they enter and walk through the rainforest exhibit, answering questions about the many different butterflies that fly freely or about the sloth that lives in the corner! I spent two hours there today and had a great time! Got to see the sloth lounging on the floor, but unfortunately missed his quick ascent to his little box. I can't wait to go back and see the sloth again soon! I'm told the more I'm there, the more likely I'll get to see him eating, hanging upside-down, and moving around. What a lot of fun!

Joe Got Busted!

I wonder if Dale knows that I have the password to create blog entries.

Anyhow, as part of my contract work, I'm often asked to provide a criminal background check for myself. It's a point of humor with me, because there's only one item on it (not even a speeding ticket!). I thought others may find it funny, too:

Indi in the afternoon

And while I chased birds, Indi chased her basketball and drank water when she got hot. Fun in the backyard!

Birds in the afternoon

This afternoon I planned on reading my book outside on the deck. Instead, I spent my time chasing little song birds through the trees - with my camera. I spotted (and photographed, though not too clearly) a gold finch, some grackle, a nuthatch and a small brown chirpy bird and my favorite, a bluebird!

New bed and blanket

Indi loves her new digs.

New bedroom color

This past weekend, Joe and I decided to spend some time at the House of Home Improvement by painting our bedroom. Smoky Olive for the walls, Lyndhurst Castle Sand for the ceiling. We also added a new ceiling fan to match the fan in the living room.

Baby cake!

My first fancy cake! The top layer was chocolate, the bottom layer carrot cake. I don't dig the baby pinks and baby blues, so decided to make a cake with bright colors. I found the little toys at Babies-R-Us and knew they'd be perfect on the cake.

Baby shower!

Yesterday I hosted a double baby shower for two of my neighbors - Kim and Michelle. They are due within a couple of weeks of each other, and since they've gone through their pregnancies together, I thought it would be fun to share a baby shower together. We had 16 people over and I believe a good time was had by all.

The cake and food were set up in the dining room.

The living room where we opened presents.

Weekend Getaway to Greensboro

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This past weekend for my birthday, Joe and I took a little weekend getaway to Greensboro, just 1.5 hours from Raleigh. We took a short detour on the way to Greensboro and stopped in Seagrove, NC, to visit the North Carolina Pottery Center. Seagrove is home to more than 90 potters. After walking through a few stores and taking in an exhibition and gallery showing at the pottery center, we continued up north to Greensboro.

We ate thai food in downtown Greensboro and then spent the next couple of hours walking around the city, taking in all the sights. We also visited the Greensboro Cultural Center, which houses a few different art exhibitions. We saw the O. Henry sculptures and ended our wanderings in front of a very large Methodist church we'd seen as we drove into the city.

By then it was time to check into our hotel and get ready for dinner.

We stayed at the O. Henry hotel (named for the writer O. Henry, who was born in Greensboro) which is a beautiful hotel! By far the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in! We had dinner at the Green Valley Grill (owned and operated by the same folks who run a good restaurant in Raleigh where we've eaten a few times). Dinner was yummy; I had fettucine with goat cheese sauce, spinach and walnuts, followed by tiramisu cake. I was stuffed. But had to save room for the cheese and wine and chocolates we had delivered to our room later (that was part of the package we found at the hotel - the Elegant Escape package). It was definitely very elegant.

Sunday was a bit of a bummer. We had planned to take it easy in the morning, eat breakfast, get showered and dressed and then walk around the city some more. But the rain had other plans in mind. It was very rainy and very cold, so after a light lunch, we decided it would be best to just head home. Neither of us were up for walking in the rain. So our elegant escape came to an end early, but we had a lot of fun exploring a new place for a little while. Definitely a place I'd like to revisit in the future.

Weekend in Greensboro, NC

A boy, his dog, and a burrito

This past weekend, Joe made an egg burrito for breakfast. Indi sat fixated on it for the entire duration of the meal. She looked up at Joe's mouth, then down at his plate, up and down with each bit. She kept hoping for a piece of the burrito, but alas, none fell from above.

I said, Jump! down on Jump Street!

Joe got a page-a-day calendar at Christmas and this was today's - I found the link on The Onion. Good stuff...(read more)



Link to the youtube.com page for this video

Happy Birthday, little girl!

Joe and I adopted Indi just after we returned from our honeymoon in May 2005. Given her age at the time, we gave her a New Years day birthday. Today she is 2 years old and quite the lovely lady!

The birthday girl

4-5 months old


4-5 months old