GTKY 2/21/14!

2MamazInSeattle

Come one, come all...let's get to know each other better!

1. If you could win a gold medal at the Olympics, what event would you want to win in? (You can choose one winter and one summer sport). Thx to @healz413 for the question idea!

2. What was an annual event from your childhood of which you have fond memories? Tell us more!

3. What's a food you love but can't get (or make) where you live?

4. Describe your happiest moment in the past 7 days.

5. What's happening this weekend?

Bonus: PIPs are always fun and welcome!

GoaliesWife123

1. If you could win a gold medal at the Olympics, what event would you want to win in? (You can choose one winter and one summer sport). Thx to @healz413 for the question idea!

I would love to medal in hockey, even though I don't play. I love the sport! As for summer, gymnastics!

2. What was an annual event from your childhood of which you have fond memories? Tell us more!

My family moved to Michigan from Rhode Island when I was a kid (about 10). We would take an annual trip back to Rhode Island every year and that was always one of the best times. To this day, I still have memories when we stop at a rest area and you smell the diesel fuel and hear the trucks running!

3. What's a food you love but can't get (or make) where you live?

Hmm, when I would visit Chicago, I would always get a Chai frozen drink from jamba juice. There are none of those around here, which is a good thing!

4. Describe your happiest moment in the past 7 days.

DW and I deciding on, and setting a plan in motion, buying a house. We are on the same page in regard to what kind of house and property, as well as a budget. It's exciting to think we are going to have a place of our own, and have it paid off within 15 years, just in time for her to retire. 

5. What's happening this weekend?

I have my second monitoring appointment on Saturday and DW has hockey on Sunday. Other than working and those few things, that's about it. If the weather isn't too cold, we may hit a trail. 

Bonus: PIPs are always fun and welcome!

A pic of my back yard...I'm longing for the green grass and blue skies. 

healz413

1. Luge in the winter games. I think it looks amazing. And I love the larger muscular body types that are valued there.
Shot put in the summer games. This is the sport that I used to be really good at (not nearly Olympic quality) so I can best picture myself doing it. Or if they ever put baseball back in the summer games and add women's baseball (not softball), which there is actually talk of, then I would choose that.

2. We would drive to Oklahoma every year for spring break and august. My grandparents and an aunt and uncle and cousin lived there. We always had so much fun visiting and it was such a big change from Chicago where we lived.

3. Chicago style stuffed pizza!

4. Getting our first beta call.

5. I babysit this evening. Tomorrow we go back in for our third beta and then try to kill time while we wait for the call. Not sure what we will do after that. It will probably depend on what the news of the call is. We don't have specific plans for the weekend.

KH826

1. If you could win a gold medal at the Olympics, what event would you want to win in? (You can choose one winter and one summer sport).

• Winter - Figure Skating
• Summer - Gymnastics

I am NOT coordinated at all, and don't have particularly good balance. I would love to be able to be graceful!

2. What was an annual event from your childhood of which you have fond memories? Tell us more!

When I was little my Grammie (paternal grandmother) who I adored would take me, my cousin and my best friend to this water park in Waterville, Maine every summer. Some Summers we would take more than one trip. It was about 1.5 hours away from where my Grammie lived, so it was a little road trip for us to go.  She would pack us egg salad sandwiches to eat in the car and we would play card games in the back seat on the way there. I loved that place! I was never a very adventurous kid, but my cousin and best friend always pushed me outside my comfort zone at that place (to go on the biggest slides, etc.) -- it was so much fun. My Grammie passed away the summer that I was 11, and the following year they closed the water park, paved it over and turned it into a Walmart...

3. What's a food you love but can't get (or make) where you live?

Everytime we go to my mom's house in Massachusetts we love to order wraps from this little place called Marathon Deli -- it is the best! I used to walk there with friends after school on half days in high school. Now they even deliver! There is one wrap called the Mayflower that is pretty much the best thing ever. My wife talks about it all the time leading up to Massachusetts trips. Wraps from there are pretty much a highlight of those trips.

4. Describe your happiest moment in the past 7 days.

Hmmm....the past 7 days haven't really been anything special. In fact, I have admittedly been in a bit of a funk this week. I guess I would say last Saturday night when we went to this wine & cheese party that our friends hosted. I really didn't want to go - I was feeling tired and antisocial, but we went anyway. I am glad we did - it was a fun time. We ended up playing Catch Phrase with a group of about 10 people (most of which we didn't know very well), and it was super fun. My wife and I were the only ones not drinking, but that was fine and we ended up staying later than we planned. I was super tired the next day, but really glad we went and had a good time and even made a few new "friends" (I use this word loosely, we will see if we ever spend time with these folks again HAHA).

5. What's happening this weekend?

Tomorrow my wife wants to prime the walls in the nursery. I am going to hang out with her while she does that and play DJ on her laptop. Maybe I will put together a painting playlist tonight... tomorrow night we are going out to dinner with my in-laws and my brother-in-law and his wife. The 6 of us have been so busy that we haven't all seen eachother together since Christmas (which is a long time for us), so I am looking forward to that. Sunday, I am not sure yet. I am sure groceries, laundry, and some other house chores will be a part of the day, but we don't have specific plans yet.

trisholio

1. If you could win a gold medal at the Olympics, what event would you want to win in? (You can choose one winter and one summer sport). Thx to @healz413 for the question idea!
Winter-ice skating.  I have loved watching it since I was a little kid

Summer-gymnastics
2. What was an annual event from your childhood of which you have fond memories? Tell us more!
It wasn't every year, but most years we would go visit my Mamaw in Washington DC over spring break or over the summer.  She would take us shopping, to musicals and fancy restaurants.  She was very wealthy and I grew up pretty poor, so it was like living in another world for us.
3. What's a food you love but can't get (or make) where you live?
I really can't think of anything.  I used to travel quite a bit for work, but I can't name a food that I totally loved
4. Describe your happiest moment in the past 7 days.
Even though I was pretty grouchy (just from being so tired) last night I was happy to hear that we are getting more money than we thought for my wife's car that was wrecked.  We are going to use the money to put a down payment on another car, probably a mini van, ugh.  But we have already out grown the vehicle we bought in December.
5. What's happening this weekend?

I am hoping to get our taxes done, do a little car shopping, buy some odds and ends stuff for the girls and Sunday we are having family dinner for my step dads birthday.  It is strange that I actually enjoy spending time with my family these days, they also adore the girls.  The toddler M asked for Gigi (my mom) yesterday, it was super cute.

Bonus: PIPs are always fun and welcome!

ball.and.chain

1. If you could win a gold medal at the Olympics, what event would you want to win in? (You can choose one winter and one summer sport). Thx to @healz413 for the question idea!

Winter -- luge looks awesome.  Summer -- rowing.  I've never done either but lately I've been sort of obsessed with taking up crew after my kid(s) are grown.  We don't live far from the Charles River, and there is a community boat house with lessons and adult teams.

2. What was an annual event from your childhood of which you have fond memories? Tell us more!

We made apple cider with family friends in Maine every fall since I was a baby.  We still do!

3. What's a food you love but can't get (or make) where you live?

Dungeness crab.  I can technically order it online, but it's pretty pricey.  It's one of the things I miss about living in the Bay Area.  I feel similarly about stone crab from Florida.  And except for Maine shrimp season, which is incredibly short, incredibly restricted, and expensive, we can't get shrimp here anywhere near as good as what I've had from South Carolina waters.  Didn't think this would be about seafood, but there you go.

4. Describe your happiest moment in the past 7 days.

It's not a specific moment, but I had a really two days with my wife last weekend.  She usually doesn't have both weekend days off, and it was fun to pick out baby stuff with her.

I was also happy to hear yesterday that my sister's hip surgery had gone well.

5. What's happening this weekend?

My sister is staying with us while recovering, as she lives alone in a second-floor apartment.  So she's around and her friends and boyfriend will be stopping by now and then to visit.  This is her first full day at home, so I took today off to be home with her.  The nausea she had yesterday from anesthesia seems to have passed, she's pretty mobile (on crutches, but weight-bearing), and she has some good drugs, so I think she won't need a ton of attention and I'm hoping to get a few things done around the house and get to the gym.  Tomorrow my wife and I tackle our disastrous office and possibly start clearing out some stuff in the nursery.  Sunday I think I'll just try to relax.

Bonus: PIPs are always fun and welcome!

Here's our kitty keeping my sister company on the couch last night. Snuggle therapy!

rkbo

1. If you could win a gold medal at the Olympics, what event would you want to win in?

Oh, this is easy....Women's Hockey. My wife and I both play roller hockey. We actually MET when she joined my team. Love love love us some hockey. Darn USA team yesterday! They had it in the bag! 

2. What was an annual event from your childhood of which you have fond memories?

How sad is it that I don't have any real annual events as a child. I did play softball when I was a kid and loved doing that. But that was only for a few years. Ps....I sucked and always got stuck in right field. lol

3. What's a food you love but can't get (or make) where you live?

OOOH...There is this place in Maui called Monkey Pod...and they make the BEST Mai Tai's. They have this pineapple froth stuff on top that really makes the drink. Also they are super strong..I can usually handle a lot of alcohol, but drink 2 of these things and I'm totally buzzed already. 

4. Describe your happiest moment in the past 7 days.

Hmm...I think that would have to be our IUI's on Monday and Tuesday. We are hoping round 2 is the one for us

5. What's happening this weekend?

I have a chiropractor appt tomorrow for a kink that's been in my neck for a week. Then we are heading over to Burbank to take pictures at the NOH8 headquarters. I've always wanted to do them, but never had the opportunity. Then my wife has hockey on Sunday. I have not been playing since the beginning of TTC (january). Its really hard to just sit and watch and not be able to help.

Bonus: PIPs are always fun and welcome! 

I don't have a bonus pip, so I decided to have fun with my font :P

redrockmama

1. If you could win a gold medal at the Olympics, what event would you want to win in? (You can choose one winter and one summer sport). Thx to @healz413 for the question idea!

Winter: snowboarding halfpipe

Summer: basketball

2. What was an annual event from your childhood of which you have fond memories? Tell us more!

There are so many! I would say it's a close tie between Halloween (also my birthday) and annual camping trips to the Utah desert. When I was really young I thought people dressed up for my birthday. Halloween was always a big deal at our house and I always had homemade costumes that I thought were awesome. I grew up in a neighborhood with a lot of kids so there were swarms of kids running around trick or treating. I still love dressing up. I've always loved camping and my dad took us multiple times a year, but there was always an annual trip with a big group of people. We got to run around, ride our bikes, go swimming, look for dinosaur bones, all by ourselves. One of the first things I found out about J was if she liked camping or not. It was a huge deal breaker for me if she didn't. 

3. What's a food you love but can't get (or make) where you live?

I can get most of the food I love here with the exception of a pint of Guinness straight from Ireland and great bangers and mash. 

4. Describe your happiest moment in the past 7 days.

Seeing our little Bubbles during the ultrasound yesterday. Baby looked great and was moving around a ton. I don't even care about the placenta previa, I'm just so happy that so far we have a healthy little baby growing. 

5. What's happening this weekend?

Going to go check out a maternity consignment store and visit my dad tomorrow. Sunday will be yoga and hopefully making some progress on projects around the house. I really want to get started on making our dining room table so maybe we can figure out a design this weekend. 

Bonus: PIPs are always fun and welcome!

We didn't get any good face shots, but here is a little collage J made. 

Jazibel

1. If you could win a gold medal at the Olympics, what event would you want to win in? (You can choose one winter and one summer sport). Thx to @healz413 for the question idea!

- Swimming, because I used to swim competitively and loved it :-) (When I was 13 I had a recruiter come watch me swim, but turns out at 13 I was too old to train).
-Figure skating, I am so far from this possibility in terms of balance, grace and strength. Plus it looks scary to do IRL.  LOL But I love watching

2. What was an annual event from your childhood of which you have fond memories? Tell us more!
-Every year we'd drive up to Ithaca, NY to visit family friends and go apple picking and other fall events. We'd stop at this funky restaurant that had stuffed animals upstairs (bears, deer, etc.) The animals used to scare my younger brother and I but we'd force ourselves to sneak upstairs to check them out.


3. What's a food you love but can't get (or make) where you live?
-Bratwurst on Broetchen (bun).  Yummmm from Germany. 

4. Describe your happiest moment in the past 7 days.
I've had a good week, for which I'm grateful. My hormones during the 1st Tri. had me in a funk.  One good memory is one night earlier this week EV added my new favorite happy song to a Spotify playlist and we each put a headphone in our ear and listened while laying in bed under the covers. I danced around it was just silly and happy.


5. What's happening this weekend?
Today I'm driving North to pick up our mail from our previous house.  It's about 1 hour away so I don't get up there much. I might take K to the gym in minute and work out briefly. Last night I had such pelvic pressure and pain (felt like 40 weeks last time around), that I don't want to push myself too much.
The weather's warming up to the 70's so EV and I talked about taking K to the outdoor heated pool at the gym.  Not many other official plans, homework and housework probably.  Maybe pulling out the baby swing and co-sleeper to check that everything works, etc.

JGY

1. If you could win a gold medal at the Olympics, what event would you want to win in? (You can choose one winter and one summer sport). Thx to healz413 for the question idea!
Summer - RUGBY!!  Which is FINALLY back in the Olympics in 2016 (Women's too, for the first time).  I feel a bit like a traitor though, as Gymnastics was always my first love.

Winter - Probably snowboard cross (is that what it's called?), mostly because it looks like the one I'd most like to train for.

2. What was an annual event from your childhood of which you have fond memories? Tell us more!
We were incredibly lucky to spend our summers in rural CT, as kids.  At the end of the Summer, the last big event was the local fair.  I LOVED going, because I got to spend such special time with my Dad, and he'd take me to the games and let me play whatever I wanted even though it was just throwing money away!  And this isn't to say that my Dad was absent or I didn't spend a lot of time with him, it's just he and I rarely got alone time to do this kind of total splurge thing.

3. What's a food you love but can't get (or make) where you live?
Well, having grown up in NYC with access to any kind of food I wanted, this one is a tough choice!  But I think what I miss most is the Cuban restaurant in our neighborhood.  Peruvian Chicken with Black Beans, Fried Sweet Plantains, and Yellow Rice!!!

4. Describe your happiest moment in the past 7 days.
This is a tie between watching S play with Gabe at the Children's Museum last weekend, and the glorious feeling I had this morning when I woke up and realized that Gabe has slept all the way through the night, and was STILL ASLEEP at 6am!

5. What's happening this weekend?
Tomorrow I'm solo with Gabe as S has a conference in WI.  Then Sunday I have a final concert that I'm singing in, so S will be solo with Gabe for a few hours.  We have swimming lessons tomorrow, and I'm SURE that we will be having some traffic through the house as we had a major roof leak and need some help in getting the water remediation process started.

Bonus: PIPs are always fun and welcome!
Just a raccoon and his window ...

 

2brides

1. If you could win a gold medal at the Olympics, what event would you want to win in?  Swimming.

2. What was an annual event from your childhood of which you have fond memories? Tell us more! Going to my grandparents cottage in Maine on a lake.

3. What's a food you love but can't get (or make) where you live? lobster rolls...made correctly (slight mayo and split top bun.) I could get them here for $$$.

4. Describe your happiest moment in the past 7 days. Hmm...not sure. I was stoked to get both kids asleep by 7:45 last night.

5. What's happening this weekend? Gray has play practice, we are getting massages as a late V-day celebration, church, brunch, get ready for the week.

SweetPea0307

@ball.and.chain - How far from Community Boating are you? We live really, really close to it.  DW and I have talked about trying out lessons one of these summers. Also, we used to live in the Bay Area also; it's where we met.  What a small world!

1. If you could win a gold medal at the Olympics, what event would you want to win in?  Winter - Cross-country skiing.  It looks like fun, and I would love to have that kind of endurance. Also, I'd be able to do it just for fun in the winter around here.

Summer - Decathalon. That would mean I was good at everything

2. What was an annual event from your childhood of which you have fond memories? Tell us more! My family lived overseas and we'd come back to visit the states every year to see family.  It was always a whirlwind trip to see all the relatives spread out over multiple states.

3. What's a food you love but can't get (or make) where you live? Falafel Drive-in from San Jose.  Technically you can get falafel here, but nothing compares to Falafel Drive-in. Also, good pupusas.  They may exist in Boston, but we haven't found them yet.

4. Describe your happiest moment in the past 7 days. Finally get the smiley face that meant I got to go in today for my 3rd IUI. Also, the moment I realized I wasn't going to have a bad response this time.  And not baby-making related, taking my mom on her first snowshoeing adventure and having a wonderful walk through the snow.

5. What's happening this weekend? I took two days off work this week to spend time with my mom, so I'm super behind at work.  So, probably working most of this weekend.

@2MamazInSeattle - fun questions; thanks for coming up with these!