Sara's Spot

Sorry for the delay…

Sara — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:07:07 +0000

I’ve been busy puking. The “What to Expect When Expecting” book says that the start of the 2nd trimester often marks the end of morning sickness for many women. I guess it also marks the start of “All day Sickness” for some (or just me)! Yuck!

Despite the second tasting of 50% of what I eat, we are happy to announce that I am now 12 weeks and 3 days pregnant.

Here’s to hoping for a bit of normalcy again before the total life-change in February 2009…

Minnesota

Sara — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:32:34 +0000

We made it. Photos to follow shortly, but for now, a small “day in the life” event. Takes place in our local post office, which is fully staffed by one person. You walk in and there is a scale from 1940 to weigh your letters and a desk and a wall of PO boxes (about 15 boxes total I would say). Above the desk are photos of above mentioned staff person’s children (two young blond boys) and (blond) husband – all of them posing proudly with a dead deer or turkey. One photo is actually last year’s Christmas card of the whole family posing with dead deer, dad is lifting the head by the buck’s horns – everyone decked out in camouflage. I mean, what says “Peace on Earth” like that scene?!

In walks a customer and us…

Customer: “Hi Sue*!”

Staff Person: “Oh hey there Bob*.”

Customer: “Those boys still huntin’?”

Staff Person: “Ohhh yeah. Sure are!”

Customer: “Good! Keep them huntin’! Keeps them out of trouble!”

Staff Person: “You betcha!”

Just a small indication that we have gone rural.

*Names changed to preserve privacy, which I imagine to be nearly impossible here.

An Evening River Cruise

Sara — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:23:49 +0000

Last night A* and I took a river boat sightseeing cruise along the three rivers (Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio Rivers) that surround the city of Pittsburgh. It was a nice trip that resulted in many nice photos, but here is one for now…

Looking straight on at Point State Park, city in the background, and where the two rivers meet to make the Ohio River.

Summer Eating

Sara — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:32:38 +0000

At the farmer’s market yesterday we got 7 ears of corn for $3, a large muskmelon (which is cantalope, I don’t care what the grower said! I looked it up!) for $2.50, a 15lbs watermelon for $3, three peaches for $1.60, and two jars of honey. All locally grown (the honey is local, too! The bees live about 15 minutes away from us!)! Not only was it a great deal — they are sooo good! I used to hate watermelon, but I think I just ate about 6 slices thus far today!

Yesterday's great finds from the farmer's market.

I really love melon. It has a very “Sunday brunch” kind of memory for me. Bagels, lox, and cut-up melon. The perfect way to start the day (around 11am, of course). It’s also one of my favorite foods to taste when traveling. Asia, for example, has so many different kinds of melons that are never seen in the U.S. The fruits in China were sooo good (and I am glad I did not take the tour guides advice and “stay away from the fruit markets”). Is dragon fruit a melon? I think it might be and that was probably my favorite part of the Chinese hotel breakfasts (and the noodles!). I can’t wait to taste all the melons in Korea some day…

I'm not sure what these are called in Korean. In English they are called "Oriental Melon."

Yesterday we ate at Aladdin’s (in Arabic pronounced “al-ah-din”) – saying “see ya” to some good, non-homemade, Lebanese food. I must say, I make a mean tabouli and baba, though! (For the record, A* prefers my grape leaves to Aladdin’s grape leaves!) A couple of days ago we had Korean and a week before that we had some great Ethiopian food at Abay. I would highly recommend Abay if you are ever in Pittsburgh. It might be my favorite restaurant in Pittsburgh. I really love Ethiopian food!

Starting at 12:00 and going clockwise we have: Kay Sir Dinich (my favorite! stewed potatoes and beets!), Misir Wat (spicy split yellow lentils), Ayib Be Gommen (collard greens with homemade cheese), and Inguday Wat (brown lentils and mushrooms) all on homemade Injera. Mmmm!

I will have to find a good Korean and Ethiopian restaurant in Minneapolis. And a good farmer’s market too. Is that too much to ask?

We will move, but first…

Sara — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:12:11 +0000

The moving company says they have found a truck driver. They will pack us Thursday, July 17th and will arrive in MN Monday, July 21st. Our contract says they will deliver on July 17th. Oh well.

So, more time to enjoy the many nice things Pittsburgh has to offer that we do not expect to find too much of in MN. Last night we enjoyed some downtown nightlife, a street concert, and an overpriced dinner at “Grand Concourse.” Grand Concourse was A*’s pick. It’s an old railroad station on the river converted into a seafood restaurant. I had crab stuffed shrimp – which, honestly, was not that good. Kind of overcooked and the shrimp were way too small to be stuffed in the first place. They were “swimming” in an overwhelming butter sauce. The “steamed” vegetables that shared the plate were also drenched in butter. A* had some kind of pasta dish that was not on the menu, but the chef kindly made to accommodate his vegetarian needs. He said it was “okay, not great.” The atmosphere is stunning though! We were seated right on the water, overlooking the Smithfield bridge (beautiful bridge over the Monongahela river built in 1881), and the city. Lucky for us, the Pirates won again last night and there was a huge and beautiful firework display just as we were finishing up our meal. After dinner, A* smoked a cigar and we sat by the river at a blues concert right in the heart of Station Square (Pittsburgh’s downtown night scene). A nice night.

Some visuals….

: The view when we arrived, around 8:00pm.

: The concert started off kind of BEP-wannabe and evolved into a nice Blues Group after sunset.

: Grand Concourse. (This photo does not do the place justice!)

A night view with tail-end of the Smithfield St Bridge to the far right.

We’re off to the farmer’s market today and wherever else we end up. It’s a hot and humid Saturday. Good day for A/C relaxation.

Protected: On my cell…

Sara — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:32:58 +0000

This post is password protected. You must visit the website and enter the password to continue reading.

We are calm people (sometimes)…

Sara — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:28:56 +0000

… But when we heard from the movers on Wednesday that they still had no truck driver for us, we were concerned. They had planned to pack us and move all of our things into a storage facility until they could find a driver (without mentioning that this was happening – trying to lead us to believe our things were actually on route to MN – good thing we asked!!). That would leave us sitting without our things for unknown period of time until they find a driver in which we would have a 24hr notice to be in Minnesota for “drop-off.” Seeing at the trip is a 16 hour drive and there was no actual time-frame that they had in mind – (only being told “we overbooked and are onto plan B right now” without the ability to explain exactly what “Plan B” meant!!) we WERE NOT CALM in the least! We are still not.

Attempting to be optimistic, we decided to tour around Pittsburgh some more. Yesterday, we visited the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (yet again!), sat at the fountain at Point State Park (this really cute city park at the tip of Pittsburgh where the two rivers meet and become the Ohio River), walked around Shadyside (hippy area), Oakland (university area) and Squirrel Hill (frummie area). Oh! And had some more Korean food! (We are expecting a serious drought of Korean food in MN, so best to stock up now!) Here are some visuals…

A Dino Named Sara

Where the city ends and Point State Park begin.

Some historic place.

A few of the bridges and where the Yankees were playing the Pirates.

Dance Everywhere

Sara — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:57:20 +0000

I’m Voting Republican …

Sara — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:08:57 +0000

The Boys

Sara — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:43:02 +0000

They are glad to be home, I guess.