As you can probably guess by my lack of recent updates, I have had a very busy couple of months. I just want to hit the highlights:

Karina and I celebrated our 7th anniversary on December 29. My mom and sister were kind enough to offer to watch the kids so that Karina and I could spend the night together. We decided to head to Phoenix. Karina found a good deal on a nice Hilton resort. By the time we made it to the hotel it was about 10:30 at night as we had stopped at IKEA (great collection of eclectic furniture), Rawhide Steakhouse (great steak and, surprisingly, asparagus), Harkins theaters (great popcorn and comfy seats), and Walgreens (great selection of canes, reading glasses, and back massagers).

When we arrived at the hotel, we were greeted by a very kind customer service manager who, as it turns out, went to school at the University of Arizona. We struck up a friendly conversation and he told us that, since it was our anniversary, he would give us the “Ambassador suite.” I personally think this had to do more with the fact that nobody had reserved the “Ambassador suite” that night. This is in no way surprising because I cannot imagine there are too many ambassadors traveling in early January.

Well, let me tell you, “Ambassador” sells this suite short! This room was fit for a political representative of a foreign country! There were two TVs, a conference table with six chairs covered in gaudy fabric, and an eight-inch wide balcony. Karina’s favorite part was the fact that there were two bathrooms. I liked this as well as it meant I did not need to waste energy on a courtesy flush. (It is this exact romantic spirit that has led to seven wonderful years of marriage)

Well, as we were only spending one night, Karina and I had packed only the “bear essentials”, such as pots for honey, books on catching wild deer, and extra musk. I jest of course. But we did pack light. This means I packed all of my necessities (deodorant and a change of underoos) in a backpack while Karina squeezed her items in a duffel bag, three suitcases, a railroad boxcar, and 3 small U-Hauls. She would probably not like me saying that, particularly because I usually pack heavier than she does. But it is a fun stereotype to propagate, so what the hey.

One of my favorite perks from our room was the complimentary bathrobes. They don’t provide those at Motel 6! I took advantage of the opportunity to live like the other half lives by putting on the robe and walking around asking Karina “Where is the caviar, love?”

Overall it was a great little getaway. Much better from our last anniversary which was spent horse riding in the wilderness with a bitter divorcee who firmly believed in the 7-year itch.

It’s a girl! Yep, we had our 18-week sonogram (I guess it was more Karina that had it) and the baby is healthy and female! Lynsey is very excited to have a little sister. I started thinking about the sonogram process and it made me laugh. Here we are with what amounts to a radio camera trying to take a picture of the poor baby’s “southern hemisphere”. For some reason this is not only tolerated in our society, but encouraged. However, if someone tried to do the same thing with a camera after birth, the result would be immediate arrest and the new nickname of “pervert.”

I don’t want to see that food again until it’s solid! During the two weeks following Christmas, Ashton and Lynsey managed to take the opportunity to share a stomach bug. Ironically it is the only thing they will share. First Lynsey caught the bug and, right when she was finished with it, she graciously gave it to Ashton for a week. The particular bug had the effect of turning their booty into what amounted to be a water faucet for a week. Then, much like a fireworks grand finale’, the last effect of the bug is a violent expulsion of the last dinner (pizza in both cases) from the mouth. If that were not gross enough, Ashton was so kind as to donate his partially digested pizza on Karina’s lap. It is much funnier now, believe me. Thankfully Ashton did everything in his power to make sure following “expulsions” did not enter the toilet as that would require far too little nauseating cleanup.

Good news though. Both kids are fine now and neither mom nor dad caught the bug (knocking on wood).

Well, hopefully I’ll be able to keep everyone updated a little more frequently in the near future. I will be done with school on March 12 and will therefore have 4 hours a week to blog whereas that time is currently scheduled for a weekly nap.