Another baby!

I just found out that my aunt Katie and her partner Rae are expecting a baby next August! They have been trying to get pregnant via in vitro, and this was the third try, so they are very shocked and excited. Katie said that it is still very very early, but they wanted to share their good news so that there could be more people thinking good thoughts and sending positive energy their way. I couldn't be happier for them and really hope that all goes well with the pregnancy.

Congrats Katie and Rae!

A snippet of my week

Today is Wednesday, my long day of the week. I have class from 8:30-11, then I work until about 5 and then I go to class from 5:30-8. Then I hop on the bus, get to my car and drive home. Tonight, I need to stop at Target for a few little essentials (more cups, napkins, plates and balloons for the upcoming baby shower and some wax paper for a Music Week craft for preschool group on Saturday). Then it's home to finish cleaning for our weekend guests. Oh yeah, and I should probably study some more for my neuro test tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I'll get up and drive to Brooklyn Park to do some hearing screenings (you know, raise your hand when you hear the beeps), and then I'll drive close to campus to hop on a bus to get to class on time to take the neuro test. Then I'll go home and greet Alyse and Jeff, the first visitors to arrive for the weekend of baby shower fun! We will use Eric's Sam's Club membership to go to Sam's and order the shower cake and then I need to get some food to make for dinner and also just to stock the cupboards for our lovely house guests. Then dinner at our house with Stacy and Taylor, and then at about 10 pm, Dad and Beth arrive.


Friday, I will get up and try not to disturb the house guests while I get ready to leave for campus again. I have a clinic meeting at 9, class from 10-1 and then clinic clients from 1:30-3:30. The kiddos in clinic should be looking forward to such fun activities as: Making your own superhero to work on /s/! and Digging in the rice bin to find exciting toys to talk about using our good /l/ sound! There's only one more week of clinic left after this, and I'm sure they'll be so sad and miss me so much.... Well, two of them might. But one won't -- he hates speech and actually may or may not have pooped his pants last week during our session... Anyway, Friday afternoon, Kate arrives and we get to go pick up the cake and flowers and just hang out with the fam a bit.


Saturday morning, I am leading preschool group in the morning with a music theme. I'm super excited about it. I'm bringing in a guitar, drum, cowbell (!), triangle, xylophone and maracas. We're doing some pattern repeating, listening to different music genres, reading a really cool book called "Punk Farm" and then making kazoos out of toilet paper rolls, wax paper and rubber bands. After that fun, I'm heading home to get ready for Stacy's baby shower. Should be a crazy busy day but really fun! I'm really looking forward to that afternoon. After that, we're doing a faux-Thanksgiving dinner at Stacy and Taylor's.



Sunday and Monday will be days of rest hanging with the fam. I plan on sleeping in then.

Santa! I know him!

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends!

Since it's December now, it's okay to start talking about Christmas. I love the holiday season. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love the family get-togethers, love buying things for people, love decorating the house, love making cookies... So when I got this little email forward from a cousin of mine, I thought I'd fill it out. You know how I like a good forward to fill out while at work (especially when I feel like I've been productive and can take a break without being too much of a slacker).

So here you go. Feel free to comment back with your own Christmas favs!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper (dollar aisle at Target has good stuff!)

2. Real tree or Artificial? I used to love going out to Afton to get a real tree when I was a kid, but we just got a fake tree from a friend for free, so that’ll do.

3. When do you put up the tree? Next weekend maybe, after the baby shower I’m throwing for Stacy is over and my out-of-town visitors leave. Then I’ll have room (and time) for the tree! (Not that I want you to be "out of my hair" -- just saying that I don't have time for the tree yet. Don't hate!)

4. When do you take the tree down? Sometime around the 1st.

5. Do you like eggnog? No.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Keyboard or my Burger King Whopper Play-doh set

7. Hardest person to buy for? My brother cause you never know if the gift will end up being taken apart later. :)

8. Easiest person to buy for? Mom

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I like mailing them, but haven’t been for the past year or so. Maybe after I get done with grad school and have more money I’ll do that again.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? ??? Can’t think of one.

12. (Not sure what happened to #12 - maybe writer of #12 too busy Christmas shopping to write silly question.)

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Sometime in November

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I think I have! Just little things that I’ve gotten from work gift exchanges – better to recycle than just throw away!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cookies and bars!

16. Lights on the tree? Yes please. And lots of them – multi-colored is nice.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Winter Wonderland, O Holy Night (or as the Gehrman family calls it “Fall on your knees”) and Silent Night are my favs.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Both. Since my family is now all over the place (New Mexico, Texas, Minnesota, etc.), there is usually a lot of traveling.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? yes, this is a dumb question.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? A star, and it should be the last thing put on the tree as a final touch. I think many tears were shed and arguments were had over who got to be the one to put it on at our house.

21. Do you open presents on Christmas Eve or Morning? Christmas Eve with the extended family, morning with immediate fam

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? There’s so much to do and not enough time. And if I had an unlimited supply of time and money, it would make things easier.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? My favorite ornament is the gingerbread man that my cousin Jessica thought was a real cookie when we were kids. There are still little teeth marks in it.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Just a big potluck of good dishes that everyone brings and pitches in.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A teapot, some slippers, things to decorate my house….books, I like everything.

26. Who is most likely to respond to this? Kate

27. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf and A Christmas Story

Some light reading

I recently realized that I check a lot of blogs on a regular basis. So I thought I'd provide a little list here of all my frequent reads. Some are listed on the sidebar, but some are not...maybe I need to update that. What is the blogger etiquette? Do I link to a cool blog even if I don't know the author, but I just found it and like it? Fellow bloggers, please share: would would other bloggers do?

And the list.....

Gotta Love the Drakes: the Drake fam, my friend Eleni, her husband Scott and their cute little 1-year-old Wes. They just started this blog after realizing that Wes outgrew his "baby blog." This blog rocks because it has fun pictures and lets me keep up with friends who live in Indiana.

McIntyre Family: this lovely website is of another friend's family -- Ang, Pat, Liam and Tonka (the wonder dog). Liam is 7 months old, so it's fun to check out their site for stories about the latest poop explosion on an airplane and for the latest pictures of Liam looking cool and sitting up all by himself!

Bob & Beth's Big Adventure: my dad and Beth started a blog a few months back, and I keep forgetting to add a link to my sidebar. I will do that soon! Their blog rocks because it has lots of pictures and it lets me keep up-to-date on what they're doing since they live in Albuquerque, NM. However, it's quite out of date!

Write Place: my friend/former co-worker from Clarian Health in Indianapolis started his blog about six months ago. He started it as a place to document his awesome trip to run with the bulls in Spain last summer. And now it has turned into a really thoughtful blog about things he wants to do in life, random thoughts, poems, etc.

Seven Sidekicks: this is a blog I found because there was an article in the local paper (I think) about this big family. It's a family with 7 kids under 7! Half are adopted and half are "bio babies," and the parents are good writers, so it's fun to check out.

Sensible of Shoe: this is a blog by Megan, a friend of my friend Angie's. We've met in a person a few times, but probably have commented on each other's blogs more than talked in real life. Her blog rocks because she's funny and has a really cute little girl Nori.

KTontheloose: my cousin Katy started a blog long before I really knew much about blogs. Her blog is fun to read because she is an aspiring actress in Chicago and has lots of interesting stories about auditions and shows. She is also just funny and often writes embarrasing stories about things that happen from day to day... random guys hitting on her, tripping in front of a cute guy, etc.

Kate's blog: my sister Kate updates once in a while about her newly single life in Texas. Her blog is fun because you never know how many times she'll use capital letters. :) No really, I like reading Kate's blog to catch up with her and hear about her life as a choir director and other single girl topics.

Alyse and Jeff's blog: Well, the best part about their blog is when they update it. That, and the giant picture of Jeff's head at the top. Update your blog, kids!

The Lindsay Family blog: this is the hub of a bunch of family blogs that let me keep up with how fast the little kiddos on the Lindsay side are growing up! They are fun to check mostly because there are often cute Halloween costumes and funny videos.

I feel like I'm missing some... but this is the main list, I think...

More news from Ash

Ashlee told me that at the appointment on Tuesday, the doctors told them that they are pretty sure that it is soft tissue sarcoma. So yesterday, Todd had a PET scan, which will help them determine if it has spread, and then today he has a biopsy, which will tell them if it is in fact cancer. Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers! I know they appreciate it.

A cute, funny side story:

Ashlee's sister Aubin lives in China and has a baby Lumie (who is about 1 year old). So last night, Aubin and Lumie flew in from China and Ashlee picked them up from the airport -- and their parents had no idea that Aubin was coming home at all. Their parents were just expecting to visit with Ashlee and to chat with Aubin via Skype (a system that lets you chat on the phone while also having web cams to see each other). So after leaving the airport, the girls and Lumie drove to their parents house, where they tied a bunch of balloons to Lumie, set him on the doorstep and then rang the doorbell. So Todd and Pam opened the door to see their grandchild from China on their front steps! I haven't heard yet how the surprise actually went, but that was the plan. I'll see Ash, Aubin, Lumie and Pam later today in the waiting room at the hospital -- it's right next door to where I work. So I'm excited to hear how surprised they were (and also how Lumie liked having balloons tied to him).

Little people giving in a big way

This story is so cute! What a great idea all around.

I think these types of stories should be shared more often in the news and through emails, etc. So here. I'm sharing a nice feel-good story to brighten your day.

Thoughts for Todd

Hello everyone, I need to ask for some support for a friend.

Well, when I got out of class tonight at 8 pm, I had a text message from my friend Ashlee (whom I've known since kindergarten). After exchanging several texts tonight (that is her preferred method of communication right now--we aren't just crazy techie teeny boppers who don't talk with their friends anymore), I've learned that her dad (Todd) needs lots of thoughts and prayers right now. He has an appointment with an oncology specialist at the U of M on Tuesday to run a biopsy on some tissue from his arm. Ashlee said that the docs think it could be soft tissue sarcoma (a type of cancer that grows in the soft tissues of the body).

So if you could all think good thoughts, say some prayers, send healing energy, etc. their way, that would be great. I know Ashlee said "the more prayers, the better!" For now, the hope is that it is not cancer at all. So meditate, pray, etc. on that!

Thanks!

Fun discovery

At work today, I was researching info about different places to host video for the Center for Spirituality & Healing. So I was looking around on facebook and youtube just noting the different file size limits and how users can share videos, etc. Well, then I typed in my username since I have posted videos on youtube before (just for random family fun and for posting to my blog). I was surprised to see that I had posted so many videos! There are like 10 on my "channel"! I'm pretty sure I did all that during that first winter that I moved back to MN after living out of state for about 8 years. It was a time of adjusting to life in MN, life away from college friends, life in the cold tundra and life with a new puppy. And yep, I sometimes found myself with a lot of time on my hands, so I filled it with things like creating a blog and posting videos to youtube.

If you need some entertainment (not sure how entertaining any of it really is...), go to www.youtube.com/user/hgehrman. There you'll find some videos of Indy playing in the snow and with a lazer pointer, Paul and my adventure playing on Lake Superior and the fam singing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve 2006.

Enjoy!

PS I can't wait for Christmas Eve! I love it and I'm super excited for my cousin Jason and the lovely Felipe to return home from London!

CSH on KARE-11 tonight

If you've ever wondered about the department I work for at the U of M, here is a little opportunity for you to learn more about it. My co-worker, the communications director of the Center for Spirituality & Healing, pitched a piece about positive aging to KARE-11 (a local news station) a little while ago, and they picked it up. Tonight, there will be a little special on the 10 o'clock news featuring the Center and some people who are aging positively. You can watch it on the local news tonight or probably check the KARE-11 website after 10 pm tonight to see it online.

You can read more about it and view the ad here.

Vote!

I voted this morning!

Eric and I got up early and arrived at the local park and rec to cast our vote at about 7:10 am (they opened at 7). It took about an hour total to go through the line to check in, the other line to get a ballot, the final line that actually led to the little voting stalls and then to cast my vote.

Here in Minnesota, we use a black marker to fill in the circle next to the candidate of your choice. Then you slide it into a scanner machine (kinda like the old days in high school when you filled out scantron test form). What do they use in your state?

Anyway, I feel good about my choices, and I'm excited to see what the results will be. As a fellow blogger wrote, I wonder if we'll get to find out the results tonight or if it'll be days before we know. I hope it's not super close and there are no scandals like last time.

One of the things I love about election day: getting the "I voted" sticker and then seeing who else has them on throughout the day. I found myself smiling at people on the bus and in the halls here at work when I saw that they also got up early to vote this morning.