my rake 365.257

so this is meant to be a picture of my rake. but a picture of a rake hanging on a wall is boring, so if you add my husband it makes it a better-looking picture. i got this rake from my brothers-in-law at our wedding, its meant to symbolize how they have accepted me into the family (one of many sibling bonding indentured servitude tasks was raking the leaves in the yard on thanksgiving). every time i look at my rake, i smile and for that daily smile i thank my "brothers"

we miss saul 365.256

this morning i had breakfast with two of my-brothers in law and husband and there was something missing. . . saul

kenmore square 365.255

this is what is happening in kenmore square this weekend. i recommend you don't try driving through this weekend at all.

innards 365.254

in past posts i have talked about how jackson likes to "kill" his toys. while of course it was a great post they didn't really capture what happens when toys die, usually we are quick to clean up the mess, here is a great example of jackson being quite pleased with the mess he has created.

tired dog 365.253

today we walked to radio shack with jackson to pick up a line to go from the stereo to the compy so that we can convert old cassettes from my youth to mp3s, so that i can relive my youth through my offspring, this long walk made jackson so tired... that he didn't even flinch when the flash went off.

new phone 365.252

last night will and i got new phones. mostly because my phone would randomly decide that it didn't want to make calls. now i have a phone that makes calls all the time and has an adorable picture of my dog as the background.

things that make me smile 365.251

mirrors, now stop what you are thinking, its not that i am vain, but rather i like to see two things at once. a long time ago before Cara made the move out west, we spent an afternoon at the botantical gardens in NY. we took a bunch of pictures and we were silly and just plain ourselves. to be sure she didn't forget me i bought us a set of these frames so we could showcase my favorite pictures (as seen above), the beauty of course being that you can choose to have the silly or the traditional picture facing out. the placement of this picture frame in front of a mirror allows me to have both views and almost everyday i smile when i look at this picture.

bridal shower 365.250

these two women are getting married to very lucky men in the next year a friend from school and i thought they should have a proper shower from the ladies at the school of management. so the party was today and it was good time and i hope they enjoyed themselves as much as i did. may their weddings be stress-free and their marriages be full of joy and happiness.

they are both mine! 365.249

jackson has recently realized how much fun chasing a ball can be. he came home from the park carrying one ball (identical to the one we have for him as seen above) that is broken. but when he got home he started hoarding both balls. there must be something so delicious inside these balls because even after breakfast was served he stayed on his chair chewing on this ball, ignoring his food. i just love how happy he looks!

the future of keshet 365.248

Will is on the board of a Keshet, a grassroots organization dedicated to creating a fully inclusive Jewish community for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) Jews in Greater Boston and across the country, this summer three families who are either on the board or on the staff are having babies. We missed out on getting the picture with the three families, (one baby born two to go). But at least we got two proud Keshet families!

new windows! 365.247

we moved into our house a little over a year ago, when we moved in we did what we had to do in order to live here. we knew that we would have to replace the windows. today we got three replaced. small wins, small wins.

civic engagement 365.246

this evening, along with 100+ other brookline dog owners went to the library to talk about the future sustainabiltiy of the green dog program. it was a good meeting, way better than the picture i took.

uncle eli! 365.245

eli has graduated and now he is staying with us until he moves into a place with friends. i know he will be back to visit. why? we have (free) food and (free) laundry. nonetheless its a pleasure to have him. i give you one guess, who likes having him around the most?

five 365.244

thats how many papers i have left this semester, which also means EVER! yipee! i have a new appreciation for the number 5.

recycling 365.243

i know it doesn't look like much but after I completed a class, i was able to recycle the 200+ pages associated with it. it felt really, really good.

insanely early breakfast 365.242

because i wasn't feeling well, you are just going to have to deal with how not good i look in this picture. anyway this is my friend jason, we went to high-school together and we lived together for a summer in chicago. he currently lives in LA (shiver) and is on the east coast for his younger sister's graduation. what makes this picture remarkable? well jason was at our house at 7:35 am! am people! he had to have been awake before that because thats when he came to our house. people who know jason will understand just how huge this is, really i am still in shock! anyway we had french toast made with real french people! it was tasty and fun and great to see him!

32 weeks 365.241

this is me at 32 weeks pregnant.

we had forgotten to take the picture before i got ready for bed, so the awesome pants i am wearing are in fact my pjs (which i stole from will, because mine don't fit anymore)

bow 365.240

in an attempt to further refine our dogs social skills, i am working with his natural instincts. dogs bow to each other to indicate that they are ready for play. i figure this is a good way for jackson to let us know what he wants, i.e. i don't want to go out, i don't want to be pet, I WANT TO PLAY! as with any training its a slow process but we are making progress, here he is in worcester telling me that its play time and to put the flashy light thing away!

product placement 365.239

a little over a week ago, will and i went out for dinner followed by ice-cream at jp licks. while there we got jackson a treat as well its called "Cow Paws" its basically honey/peanut butter flavor sorbet. every time we open the freezer he gets excited and as you can see when he gets a couple licks in he gets cross-eyed.

clothing death 365.238

when we realized that i was going to need clothing specific to being pregnant, Will first suggested that I find shirts are ready to move on. this shirt is the first casualty, it has a hole (entertainingly where my belly-button is) and no longer covers my ever-expanding belly. so while it should have happened a while ago, its time to say good-bye to this shirt... well maybe after just one more time wearing it.

tomato plant? 365.237

when will and i planted these little seeds, i'll be honest, i didn't really expect it work. I mean
for the left half of the tray we took seeds from actual tomatoes, (the awesome cherry tomatoes from the "tomatoes of the world" they sell at trader joes) but they are growing like gangbusters! since will and i live in the city and have limited access to garden space we are offering out many of our tomato plants.. do you live locally? would you like a cherry tomato plant all your own? shoot me an email and we can arrange it.

pink snow 365.234

spring has sprung! our street is littered with petals from all the pink flowers that have been blooming lately. its quite nice to walk down the street and see pink petals lining the street instead of trash remainders after pick-up day. as my neighbor put it, its like pink snow!

compliments 365.233

i got this necklace as a gift for my 30th birthday from my husband, i love it! every time i wear it i get compliments, i thought the compliments should continue over the interweb. compliment away!

late night 365.232

we left the pub at 11:13, and this picture of the clock in the square proves it! we saw the dejas last night at matt murphy's pub. we went because a guy we know from high-school is in the band. it was neat to see him again, we look forward to seeing them again at Boston Pride.

my boys 365.231

sometimes after a long day of bringing home the bacon and napping, will and jackson (you get to figure which one does which) get in a little snuggle time. makes me smile.

pride 365.230

last weekend will and i planted seeds for marigolds, basil and tomatoes. while i realize that seed germinate and grow because of nature, i can't help but take pride in my little seedlings as they push their way out of the soil, (from front to back marigolds, basil and one little tomato sprout)

new leaf? 365.229

today i had my last first class of b-school. its a beautiful day. to celebrate this, the professor suggested and enthusiastically agreed to have class outside. i am not complaining it was great to be outside, but not being able to use the bathroom for the duration of class was distracting

she deserves her title 365.228

today in the mail (ok really FedEx) i got the following, a pair of clogs, a christmas tree pin and an Al Gore card with "quotable" stickers from the bestie. understandably jackson was suspect. the clogs make sense, see her blog post from my visit to her this past dec, where she mentions how i brought 3 pairs of shoes but only wore her clogs the whole time. i know she doesn't wear said clogs so i have been harassing her about them, to shut me up she sends them to me. i wonder what else i can get this way. she is in the process of moving, so i can only assume she came across the pin in her packing and thought, "hey i need to get rid of this veronique can clearly use it." the al gore card is truly the cherry on top. i heart al gore. she really is the best bestie!

prettiest tree on the block 365.227

this is prettiest tree on my block. yay for spring!

vaca! 365.226

tonight will and i went on a date we went to cafe d in JP and then followed it with a visit to JP Licks, where they have coffee as their lactose free flavor this month! while the line was long at least this cow (vaca in spanish) kept us company.

awesome-est husband ever! 365.225

today i spent a lot of time in a hard backed chair, this caused my lower back to hurt like none other. i was really close to tears. to try to alleviate the pain my awesome husband tried to massage it. while i could say that my back wouldn't hurt if it weren't for him and his motility, instead i will say thanks for the back rub babe, you rock!

been meaning to post this for a while 365.224

so a long time ago (read one month-ish or so) i sent my bestie some breakfast treats, for the full story go to her blog. anyway i meant to take a picture of her announcing my greatness to everyone but i kept forgetting today i finally remembered.

enough? 365.223

as you know jackson loves to help recycle, today we had a lot of bottles around and he needed to "kill" all of them. the funniest part of this is what you see above. the hoarding of all the bottles he collected. i think he would've slept surrounded by them had i not taken them away.

uninspired 365.222

its a really busy week at school, i meant to take pictures of the glorious spring that is happening outside but alas, i forgot. instead you get this; me not sure what to take a picture of aside myself.

flattery and the truth 365.221

today Mrs G. over at Derfwad Manor paid me an extra-ordinary compliment, saying i have above average hair. here's the truth Mrs G, my hair is a frizzy mess most days, the picture that you used in your post is from two days after my most recent hair cut, my hair was styled to perfection by my talented hair lady (if you live in boston go see Andrea at Biyoshi Salon she rocks!) my hair on most says looks like the above picture. much frizz, no control etc. also usually its back which really just makes the frizz look like a halo around my head. (because i am such an angel!)

anyway thank you so much for your advice and the advice of all the folks who comment on your blog i will print it out and put it on my bedside table for re-reading when i am feeling overwhelmed sipping my bourbon at noon.

ps. thanks for answering my question Mrs G!

excited to see us? 365.220

we came home from Michigan today and while Jackson was happy to see us i think he was more excited about the flip-flops he got as an anniversary gift (its been one year since we got him!)

bread coma 365.219

this is what two people who ate a lot of bread look like before they go to bed.
i meant to take a picture of the bread at the table, but i was distracted that i forgot.

college graduate 365.218

yay eli!! today he joined the legions of other UM graduates. i learned many things at the commencement ceremony this morning but as i learned the most important is GO BLUE!

the following bonus picture if for those of you who know my in-laws, i present a classic pre-shot usually always better than the real shot.

why go to michigan? 365.217

to see young eli of course! today he started his graduation exercises with a ceremony in (one of) his departments. it was lovely with tons of fresh fruit for me to eat. michigan has a beautiful campus and i look forward to seeing more of it tomorrow when eli actually graduates

passover stir-crazy 365.216

causes my brother in law to break out into, "tradition, tradition" well not really, mostly it just makes him act a little crazy, lucky for me (and you) i was able to capture the moment

new tricks 365.215

Will is attempting to teach jackson how to "stand." so far jackson can hold it for about 3-4 seconds which is pretty impressive. i really love watching them play together.

special food 365.214

because our dear dog hates the car so much, we try to make each trip extra worthwhile, so while at my in-laws we give him special food, called whole meals, "Premium Nutrition in a Shape Dogs Love!" anyway the process of him eating this so funny, first he grabs out of his bowl, which is "scary" because sometimes the bowl moves which makes an unfamiliar noise, then he runs with the bone in his mouth the other room where he proceeds to eat the thing while keeping an eye out to make sure that no one is going to take it from him. He doesn't growl, but you can be sure that he knows if you are nearby, he someone manages to eat it while staring you down. which is what you see pictured here.

awesome uncle playtime 365.213

today jackson got to play with two of his uncles, Saul and Eli and while it was fun he definitely missed Uncle Jesse.

butchie 365.212

today Will went through his attic and found this, Butchie the bear. Apparently he lived in his crib with him and lived on his bed, then up on a shelf until he left for college. this now goes with all the stuff that our families have saved for the future baby.
while i didn't have my camera handy when Butchie was first unearthed, the picture below is an accurate re-enactment.

28 weeks and happy birthday 365.211

this is what 28 weeks looks like on me.
also today is my husband's birthday, happy birthday honey, i love you.

wedding present 365.210

my wonderful family in australia got us a great wedding present (that they got to us before the wedding, they are so with it!). this beautiful piece of aboriginal art. today, only 1 and half years later, i finally framed it, seeing how great it looks on my wall i regret every minute of not getting around to it sooner.
anyway the artist that created this wrote the following on the back (Travellers of the Dream As both man (tribes) and creatures (animals) go in search for tucka (food) and water, they travel the desert in a mirage of unrelenting passage of time and space through the Dreamtime)