I had a fantastic time in Virginia and Washington D.C. with my parents, April and her family, Beth and Shaun, and our friends from the Biosphere! Here’s a picture from the baby shower of beautiful April! (I’ll post more photos soon!)

p.s. Happy, happy birthday to Ranni!

Everywhere I look, friends are pregnant and/or with babies. This weekend I am heading to April’s baby shower and a mini-Biosphere reunion in the Washington D.C. area (Unfortunately, it’s a zip in/zip out kind of weekend and I won’t be able to see many of my friends and family in the D.C. area. I am so sorry about that, guys!).

April (at the right) is due with Ripley Lauren in December; Erika gave birth to Isaac yesterday; Margaret’s tummy is getting larger and larger every day; Judy just passed into her second trimester; my cousin Shira is due next month; Ranni and Ricardo’s daughter Isabela turns one in a couple of days! I feel like it’s the year of the baby for us.

Congratulations to Erika and Andrew on the birth of their beautiful and healthy son Richard Isaac!

He was born last night and weighs in at 6 pounds, 12 ounces.

Glad mom and baby are doing great! Sending you hugs and cheers from Colorado!

This weekend I slept in (three days in a row!),
Shopped for thank you and baby shower gifts,
Read in bed and on the couch and in the car,
Drank iced strawberry tea at the Tea Spot,
Indulged in several tasty IZZE cocktails,
Walked around all of downtown Boulder,
Watched episodes of “Sex and the City,”
Played frisbee golf (on a real course!),
Got somewhat caught up with email,
Ran along the Boulder Creek Trail,
Ate delicious sushi (twice!),
Visited family and friends,
Spent time with my husband,
Rested, recharged, and found myself again.

All in all, it was a lovely and very needed break from the Spritzer Leyba every day craziness. Of course, I am still counting down to our honeymoon…

How did you spend your long weekend?

It’s been an emotional and draining week and I am so relieved that I’ve made it to the (three-day) weekend.

At work, we finished up the preliminary draft of a report, which we have been working on (practically nonstop) for six weeks, two days early. I am feeling really good about the whole project and very pleased (and proud) with how it turned out.

As the terrible news continues in the aftermath of Katrina, I find my heart sinking deeper and deeper. I’ve been religiously checking the news every few hours (and listening to NPR) hoping for a snippet of good news to offset the overwhelming sadness that has enveloped our nation. My thoughts are with the devastated families across the Gulf Coast, including my friend April who made it safely out of New Orleans, but is unsure about the state of her possessions and home (which she moved into just days before the hurricane).

I feel thankful to be safe and sound, that my friends and family are safe and sound. I hope those directly affected by Katrina are able to reach that place soon.

I am looking toward the long weekend for some rest and relaxation, a very needed break from the stress of the past few weeks and the incredible sadness this week over Katrina.

May we all find a few moments of peace in these hectic and troubled times.

For the past month, David has been reading aloud to me before we fall asleep. We really enjoyed reading the most recent Harry Potter book aloud together in July; so much so that we decided to take turns sharing our favorites books aloud together. Our one ground rule: we would read only those books that just one of us has already read.

Three weeks later, we just finished “The Eye of the World” by Robert Jordan, the first novel in the Wheel of Time series, a series that David has loved since he first encountered it in 1992. It took me several chapters to really get into the novel, but once we were halfway through it I was hooked! (Even so much that I had trouble falling asleep on occasion because I feared for the safety of its characters!) I loved guessing about what was going to happen next, arm wrestling David for information along the way, and his constant reassurance that, yes, they will all survive. He enjoyed sharing one of his favorite books and seeing me experience it for the first time.

The original plan for after finishing the book was that rather than jump to the next book in the series (which we have on CD and plan to listen to on long car trips), we would switch to one of my favorite novels that David hasn’t read: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Together we have enjoyed the five hour BBC version and it’s high time that David experience the authentic Jane Austen.

Of course, once we got to the end of “The Eye of the World,” I had no interest in reading my favorite novel by my favorite author and instead wanted to read book two: “The Great Hunt.” So, we started it on Monday. Go figure.

Learn more about Robert Jordan and the Wheel of Time.
Learn more about Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice.