Bento number two Thursday, May 31, 2007

This is my 2nd bento. I took a few lessons from my first bento.

First, no cheese on the salad – it absorbed the moisture and became gooey, almost as if it had melted. Not appetizing.

Next, no ramon. I thought my aversion to ramon had gone away, but as I struggled through the last bowl, I realized it hadn’t quite disappeared. Maybe, just maybe, a different flavor would work better.

I’ve prepared this on the night before and I’m really hoping the banana holds up. Its sitting, sealed, in the fridge right now, but I’ll check in the morning and replace it if necessary.

The nuts and chocolate were fantastic – this will likely be a staple!

A tiny baby, a freakout, and two nightmares. Thursday, May 31, 2007

As you can see, our friends Jay and Steph had a beautiful, little boy last night.  It was awesome for them.  It was terrifying for me.  I had the sudden realization that no matter what, in about 6 months I’m going to be having a baby.  There wasn’t enough oxygen in that hospital for the panic attack that ensued.  Ian just sat and laughed as I came to understand the fact that be it naturally or via surgically, I will be in the exact same position much sooner than I am comfortable with.

It only seems fair that I would dream up horrible scenarios about late pregnancy and childbirth afterwards.  The first dream had me at the hospital with strong contractions but no dilation and no breaking water.  To try to hurry things up a bit, the doc suggested I take a walk… through the woods.  I waddled with Ian deep into the woods where, you guessed it, my water broke and I delivered my own baby while Ian looked at wildflowers.

The second dream, there was no childbirth.  I was 9 months along and in spite of our doc’s dire warnings, Ian developed a deep seated need to see Mexico.  So we drove out into the middle-of-nowhere, Mexico.  We were passing through a small village with no real roads when Ian decides he is lost.  He does donuts in the village square which make me very sick, so I hop out mid-loop.  The local mob/mafia/crime lord gets mad at Ian’s donuts and chases my fat self around town.  Ian finally picks me up and we get out of there.  Only to run out of gas in the desert.  I woke up before I gave birth on a sand dune or some such thing.

The gist of all this is, yay for the Hansens!  And dear lord, what have I gotten myself into.

Jay & Steph’s new baby! Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Jay and Stephanie headed to the hospital this evening for their semi-scheduled cesarean birth and by 7:27pm, they had themselves a nice little boy! He tipped the scales at 6lbs 2.5oz and measured 19.25 inches in length. He is four weeks early, but there wasn’t anything keeping this guy in the womb any longer. Due to his early arrival he’s getting a little supplemental oxygen in his picture here. This picture, by the way, was taken with my cell phone – I’m certain there will be plenty of better shots, but this was the only one I had available.

You might be wondering why my wife is pictured in this post. That’s because she freaked out a bit. We’d arrived at the room where they would eventually be staying and the nurses were just directing us back toward the waiting area when Jay came around the corner with his yelping child. He was minutes old, a shade blue, and quite obviously tiny in his father’s long arms. We saw him for 30 seconds, no longer, and then headed for a chair. A chair where Susan could complete her panic attach.

“I have one of those in me. It will be out in 6 months. Its inside me. His head… his head was this big!,” was her general mantra for about 5 or 10 minutes.

After she’d settled, we went to kill some time looking at the nursery. We headed to the “central” nursery, but those 3 babies were kind of boring. We noticed a second nursery and ended up staring right at their newborn, complete with beaming daddy. We spent 30 or 40 minutes at the glass, watching him be introduced to a busy, busy world. He got a shot and a rectal temperature taken… he had a warming lamp for a while and no warming lamp for a while. Susan and I discussed umbilical cord care (and how gross it’ll be to have it drop off…!) amongst other general observations. It was an amazing sight.

Soon after, we indicated that we were headed to see the mother of this beautiful child, and Jay came out of the nursery. Being a sizable locale, he needed a little guidance in order to find his wife, so we lead him through the labyrinth of halls. We soon found her, recovering nicely and a fantastic mood. We told her all about her new son and manged to show her this weeny little cell phone photo! I suppose it was better than nothing for a woman that may not see her child for another couple of hours.

It was a great trip and I’m really glad we got there just in time to see their son only minutes old. I think Susan will recover soon.

My first bento… Wednesday, May 30, 2007

As promised, a photo of my lunch. If you click on the picture, you can see notes about each item… but if you read the previous blog post (below) you can get a full description!

Mr Bento has arrived! Tuesday, May 29, 2007

My Mr Bento tried to arrive last week, but since we weren’t here to greet him, he stayed with friends at the post office. Susan, however, drove out to pick up him for me while I was at work this afternoon. She kept him all wrapped up so I could have the pleasure of opening the box, and oh what a pleasure it was!

I was surprised to find that I had received the “chopstick version” of the Mr. Bento, whereas I had somewhat expected the “spork version.” Apparently you don’t really have any say in the decision, its at the whim of the distributor. I’m okay with chopsticks, though… but will my co-workers be okay with my slurping soup? We’ll find out!

To celebrate Mr Bento’s arrival, we took a stroll through the Flickr group’s photos to get some ideas and then we drove to the grocery store. While we only went to the neighborhood Kroger, I think I covered the basics. I grabbed a good bit of fresh fruit, some salad greens and veggies to drop into that, along with nuts, chocolate and the all important muffin tins. (You’ll see…) I also grabbed two pounds of chicken breasts so I could immediately prepare them for use in my Bento.

If you want to read a description (pictures are currently unavailable) then click for

I’m in love with my mattress, er, husband. Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Squeal! We slept on the new mattress last night. It was awesome. I woke up without a backache, headache, or otherwise-ache. It still has that new smell, which is not like new car smell. That is to say, it stinks. I don’t care. Susan is so happy.

It’s also good timing for this. I used up whatever energy reserves I had in Chattanooga. I’m pooped.  Beyond pooped. I intend to sleep for most of today. And all on my new mattress.

Mush Monday, May 28, 2007

It’s Monday… I know that because my computer says so. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have a clue. My brain is mush and I can’t quite tell one day from the next over the past few. I think I’ll list them here, just so I can sort it out…

• Wednesday
  • Work
  • Hockey Class – 8pm
  • Drive to Chattanooga – until 12:30am (Eastern)
• Thursday
  • Work
  • Visit grandmother @ 6:30pm (Eastern)
  • Eat at Table Two w/ Amy & Garrett
• Friday
  • Work
  • Visit Dot @ 5p (Eastern)
  • Eat with Matt & Richell at home
• Saturday
  • Drive to IKEA and back (7:30a – 2:30p)
  • Nap
  • Visit Dot @ 4p
  • Eat at Red Lobster
• Sunday
  • Sleep in (despite best intentions)
  • Eat at Sushi Nabe w/ group
  • Visit Dot @ 5:30p
  • Eat at my parents’ house
• Monday
  • Figure out what happened this week
  • Visit Dot @ 11a
  • Drive home
  • Sleep on new mattress!

Wow. That was sort of tough…

Life away from home Sunday, May 27, 2007

I have to say, Susan’s brother and sister-in-law have been amazing hosts, letting us stay with them since late Wednesday night. Its been a fantastic help to have someplace we can be ourselves.

My grandmother has perked up a great deal, enjoying her private room and, since yesterday, her recliner from home. By the time we head home tomorrow we’ll have gotten to visit her everyday.

Today we’re going to have lunch with Ken & Val at Sushi Nabe. Valexi was sick a few nights this past week, but she is apparently doing better now. Garrett and Amy will be joining us as well, so they’ll have their first glimpse at their beautiful little girl!

Susie has been up and down the past day or so. Her sleep habits have been such that she has been sleeping a little too deeply and not resting particularly well. She had a few constipation issues today, unfortunately.

Our new mattress Saturday, May 26, 2007

I drove to IKEA in Atlanta this morning with my mother and bought a new mattress for Susan and I. This, believe it or not, is a $199 Queen sized mattress.

I addition to the mattress, I picked up a set of shelves for the nursery and a few other odds and ends. For a trip where I had stated multiple times that I did not want to “shop,” we spent an awful lot of time shopping. It wasn’t too bad though…

Oh yeah – and I absolutely love my car, the Honda Fit. You’ll notice I’ve got everything we bought comfortably placed in the back of the car. Amusingly enough, there was another Fit parked two spaces over from mine in the garage as we were leaving.

Chatt-town. Saturday, May 26, 2007

I have been enjoying the last few days like a mini-vacation.  I’ve spent a lot of time with my family, most especially Dad who I miss loads.  I’ve also been enjoying my extended family on Ian’s side.  I’m happy to say that Dot is doing much, much better these days.  She’s got a private room, which is so much better for her.  Her last roommate was, hmm, a little much.  The lady herself was quiet, but her sitters had the TV turned up as loud as it could go 24/7.  Rather annoying at 2AM.

I spent today with Richell, something I haven’t done in ages.  We went to Shogun and then a little shopping.  Let me just say that Olivia is quite pleased with all forms of Japanese cuisine, including the quasi-American variety.  Man, it was so tasty.  I also wore my first pair of maternity shorts.  They were a little big (that won’t last long) so I had to keep pulling them up at intervals.  That wasn’t as much as a problem after lunch, sigh.   All in all, a very good day.

Ian ran down to Atlanta bright and early this morning to go to Ikea.  He went to pick up the new mattress.  I’m excited!  My back is unimpressed with the current mattress so I’m hoping this is the ticket to better sleep next to my hubby.  His mom went with him so they got to do some mother-son bonding on the way.  Ian is now passed out in the guest bedroom.  He’s a doll of a husband.  Such a lucky girl I am.

Ian’s new toy… Thursday, May 24, 2007

It hasn’t actually arrived yet, but I’ve ordered it from Amazon… plus this is someone else’s picture.

Anyway, it’s a Mr. Bento. (I didn’t pay full price for it, by the way.) Its basically a thermos, but with four little bowls, one of which seals tight to keep in stuff like soup or yogurt.

Along with the Mr Bento purchase, I bought a Bento recipe book in the hopes that it will help me fill my four bowls on a regular basis. Beyond the recipe book, I’ll be going through the Mr Bento Flickr group, where everyone shows off their daily Mr Bento packing. It seems that there are lots of very creative people out there with a fair amount of time on their hands when it comes to packing their lunches.

So we’ll see how this goes… hopefully it will go well and I’ll begin taking my lunch to work again. I also hope it will help me to get a little more variety in my lunch box on top of getting a healthy lunch.

Photos from our visit Thursday, May 24, 2007

So as I mentioned last night, we’ve had the photos loaded on Flickr for a few days, but I thought I’d go ahead and share them through a post as well. Valexi is a beautiful little girl with a wide range of expressions. She and I got along quite well, almost immediately after I walked in the door.

The visit was fantastic – it didn’t hit us until we were there that it had been two years since we’d all seen one another, but you wouldn’t known that from our interactions. On top of just stepping right back into the swing of things with Ken and Val, we got along with Val’s sister Gina as if we’d known her all along!

Ken was being the fantastic father figure that he is, chasing Gina’s girls around the yard and keeping Valexi entertained, despite the fact he had only gotten an hour or so worth of sleep over the previous day. Apparently driving with a little baby isn’t the easiest task in the world, but Ken didn’t let it affect him.

As it stands, we’re hoping to get to see the group again on Monday, but its all still in the planning stages. I got a call from Val today saying that she, Gina and the baby were all a little under the weather, so we’ll just have to check things out in a few days.

The other 49 photos are here.

Busy day… Wednesday, May 23, 2007

So today has been pretty busy, as evidenced by a last minute blog post.

I, of course, worked all day today, but on top of that I had hockey skating class immediately afterwards.  Susan spent her day dealing with (successfully) some constipation issues, plus getting us packed to head out of town.

Thanks to the generosity of my boss, Susan and I are now in Chattanooga where we’ll be able to spend a little extra time visiting my grandmother.  She’s been on a bit of a roller coaster lately and we didn’t feel like just seeing her over the weekend was quite enough to satisfy ourselves.  I’ll be working my normal hours, but I’ll be in the same town, making visits possible, whereas they simply were out of the question while we were at home.

We’ll post a bit more tomorrow… I need to post the pictures of our visit with Ken, Val and Gina.  I think some folks have already noticed them in the Flickr bar on the right, but I’ll bring a couple to this site for easier viewing.  I also want to show off my purchase from Amazon that I’m eagerly awaiting to arrive…

For now though, it’s time to sleep.

Portending things to come. Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Yesterday, we saw some old friends, Ken and Val,  and their new baby, Valexi.  A few of you reading this may remember Ken as our favorite sushi chef and friend.  He moved off 2 years ago to New York and then Orlando to further his career in the industry (can’t wait til we get a chance to sample his new skills).  He and his wife had a beautiful baby girl this past December.  She is the happiest baby I’ve ever seen.

Anyway, they were visiting family in Tullahoma, TN and invited us to visit for the evening.  We had a marvelous time!  Valexi loved Ian at first site, especially his fingers which she nibbled on contentedly for the first part of the visit.  Any other female who attempts this risks life and limb.  Ken and Ian spent most of their time chasing around Val’s sister’s kids and doing that male bonding thing.  I spent most of my time with Val and her sister (whose name is escaping me, unfortunately), learning tricks of the trade from good moms.

All in all, a good day.  Made even better by the Sonic fudge cake sunday on the drive home.

Oh yeah – 11 weeks! Monday, May 21, 2007

I was just reminded by our little ticker to the right that we’re at 11 weeks today.  I love the humorous comment – “Nothing says ‘I’m pregnant!’ like chronic constipation.”