A Video Worth Watching

I'm not usually one for political blogging. I would rather use this space to update people about our lives rather than stir the proverbial pot. However, I recently watched a video of a panel discussion at the recent world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, that centered on the situation in Gaza. Among the panelists were Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Amr Moussa, the former Egyptian Foreign Minister who now leads the Arab League, Israeli President Shimon Peres, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Durin the panel, Peres made an impassioned speech in defense of Israel. I can honestly say that I have never been as moved by hearing an Israeli politician. Especially since Peres has done as much or more for Mid-East peace than anyone in recent history. I strongly recommend everyone watch the video below to appreciate his passion not only for Israel's right to defend itself, but also the country's desire for peace.

Peres begins his speech at about 39:30 (you don't have to wait for the entire clip to load).



For those of you who watch the entire clip and would like to talk about/respond to the Turkish Prime Minister's behavior at the end of the panel, just let me know and it will be the topic of my next blog post.

Michelle's Inauguration Post

Gil Troy, for whom I used to work, put a post on his blog Center Field two weeks ago entitled "Thank you, George W. Bush". For those who aren't inclined to click on the link and actually read the post, the gist was that the Jewish community should show its appreciation for President Bush's strong and steadfast support for Israel now that he's out of office, in a way that we failed to do when he was in office. If anyone is as moved by Professor Troy's words as I was, consider visiting the George W. Bush Foundation and donating to his presidential library.

Scrubtacular

Many of you may know that I am an ardent follower of the TV show "Scrubs." I've stuck with the show through the highs and the more recent lows. I even followed the show across networks (from NBA to ABC).

For the past two weeks, Scrubs has been airing back-to-back and for both weeks, for whatever reason, my DVR has decided to only record the second episode. In the old days this would have caused me much consternation, however, now days, we have this new fangled "Internet," where I can still watch my shows. In place of the TV advertisements, the show breaks several times to show you a single 30 second ad. The same ad repeats for each of the breaks.

On a somewhat ominous note (for ABC) the ads during my most recent viewing of Scrubs were all promos for other ABC shows. This means that they had a captive audience and chose (or even worse - were forced) to show advertisements which generated no revenue. Now, I guess ABC could have decided that these promos would lure me into other ABC shows, but seeing as how I had to visit ABC's website in order to get to the Scrubs episode, I was probably aware of the other programs already.

So either they actively decided to get no money from the show, or nobody was willing to pay.

Sorry Darwin

As I was driving to school this morning I nearly broadsided a car who had pulled into traffic to turn left. What astonished me however, was not the actual boneheaded driving. As soon as the car pulled out I slammed on my brakes and began honking. Being a good driver I haven't ever found myself in the other driver's position, but I can imagine that if I pulled into traffic and heard a rapidly approaching car honking repeatedly, I would probably, you know, look in that direction. This girl felt no such compulsion.

I was able to stop just in time, and the car was able to merge about a half a second before I would have reached her (had my brakes failed). Half of me wanted to speed right into the other car. I'm pretty sure that my front end could beat her door in a fight. Maybe that would have gotten her attention.

Visual Update

A quick visual update on the things we didn't blog about as we were ignoring our blog this fall and winter:

My mom and Richard came for Thanksgiving. This was a blessing both because we got to see them and because I was too sick to manage dinner all by myself. We spent Thanksgiving Day touring Plimouth Plantation and the Mayflower II. Here are my mom and me at the Wampanoag Homesite:

And Adam and me at the 1627 English Village:

We were also "blessed" with a huge snowfall three weekends ago. Here is the view from our kitchen window the Sunday after the storm:

I think we got a full foot of snow.

Truly, this was about as exciting as life got for us during the blogging hiatus. I was too sick to do anything else photo- or blog-worthy!

Happy Statistics

Adam and I got the results of or Early Prenatal Risk Assessment today. The ERA is based on a blood test and an ultrasound, and (together with the age of the mother) is used to predict the chance of having a baby with Down syndrome, Trisomy 13 or Trisomy 18. The ultrasound also checks for other birth defects.

Our results put us in the low risk category, with no further testing indicated! Apparently, my odds of having a baby with one of the three chromosomal disorders are lower than a 20-year-old woman's odds. Now I will have to find something new to worry about!

Everybody's Doing It

Another common baby related question that we receive is whether Michelle and I have started thinking about names yet. Rather than answer that question at the moment, I'm going to follow a friend's advice and open the name up to your humble thoughts. Just remember, some people's suggestions carry more "weight" than others, so don't underbid. This is a limited time opportunity. Final bidding will close in mid-July. We are also open to corporate, non-name specific, sponsorships. For example, Baby Shain, brought to you with limited diaper changing interruptions by Ford.

Hey, if Blagojevich is doing it, why can't I?

Proof Positive

Although I didn't experience that "Am I really pregnant?" feeling that some of my friends had during the first trimester -- I had enough symptoms that I was sure every minute -- it was still amazing to see the baby for the first time on Monday. Here is a photo from our 12 week ultrasound:


I annotated the photo for those of you who aren't adept at reading these fuzzy black and white images.

More Information

Yes, we're having a baby! People usually want to know more than that, though, so here are the answers to a few frequently asked questions:

How far along are you?/When are you due?
I'm 13 weeks, which puts me in the second trimester. I'm due July 13.

Are you going back to work after the baby comes?
Yes, I'll be going back full-time. Brandeis guarantees 8 weeks of maternity leave, but if I can get approval, I would like to stay home with the baby through the end of Sukkot, which would be 13 weeks. I'll keep you posted on the negotiations.

Is the baby a boy or a girl?
I don't know yet! Sex is detectable by ultrasound at about 18 weeks. Adam and I will be finding out the sex, if the baby cooperates by being in the right position, and we'll be happy to share the information with all of you after the next ultrasound.

How are you feeling?
Ugh. I had a miserable first trimester, with lots of food aversions, nausea and vomiting, not to mention exhaustion. I was actually losing weight. My wonderful OB/GYN eventually put me on Zofran (Ondansetron), an anti-nausea medication, which helped a lot, and I do feel much better now. But I admit that I was surprised by all the intense physical changes that come with pregnancy! Not to mention the emotional ones. (Did you see the Pampers Peace on Earth commercial? I was absolutely sobbing.)

Can I tell people?
It's on the Internet, so it's public! Most of our friends and family know by now, I think. I told my boss this past week, and I'll tell the rest of my coworkers on Monday. Kudos, by the way, to our parents and grandparents for keeping the secret for 8 weeks!