Woohoo! On many counts.

1) We have almost-renters in our Cincinnati house!  I say "almost" because we haven't received their check and the signed lease as of yet, but we've talked to them ad finitum and they said they'll mail it out tomorrow.

2) Jonathan put together the new-to-us bedframe!  It was Jonathan's mother's and she had had it in storage... now it's ours.  The next step is to order some curtains.

3) Jonathan and I had a successful couple date with friends from temple, and we learned how to play Settlers of Catan.  Finally!  I can't believe we'd never played it before, it was relatively easy to pick up and quite fun.

4) I spent three days on the phone with Sallie Mae, the Department of Education Loan Services, our accountant, the HUC financial aid person, and three rabbi friends and finally figured out how to deal with my student loans.  That's a huge weight off my shoulders.

5) In our house right now we have blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, plums, oranges, apples, and watermelon.  I'm in fruit heaven.  Ari's most-repeated phrase this week has been "more bewwy pwease!"

6)  Our friend Robin moves in next week, and I was afraid that transforming the guest/play room into his room would be problematic for the kids, as it entailed shifting their toys into other parts of the house.  But I finished the process last night, and they've taken to it really well.  It's actually been a good change, because now they entertain themselves more since they can play in our presence when we clean up after dinner or talk at the table; before, they would never want to be in a separate room.

Example of new organization: yay for art supplies!

7) Jonathan and I, for unimportant reasons, made a day trip to San Jose last week, 2 1/2 hours each way.  And instead of being a schlep, it became a date!  We had lunch at a fun Philly Cheese Steak restaurant (I definitely got in my protein count for the day), and even drove around the Google campus.  It is SO COOL.  I mean, you could see their pro-employee and pro-green philosophy just from glancing at their parking lot: they had spots reserved for the Google Map cars, for electric vehicles (with charging stations), for expectant mothers, and for G-Bikes (colorful bikes that people can hop on and off to get to various places on campus).  We saw sweaty employees coming back from the adjacent soccer field wearing "Google Soccer" t-shirts, and noticed that there was a whole track of land for Google sports.  Colorful umbrella awnings were everywhere, covering fountains and pretty park areas, making it a lovely place to sit and socialize.  I also didn't overlook the fact that there were minimal employees over 40. :)

8) I Love Mondays: And Other Confessions from Devoted Working Moms by Michelle Cove is brilliant.  It made me feel much less alone in my constant struggle for work-life balance.  I won't even go into how brilliant it is, but just know - if you're a mom who likes her job but always feels that one takes away from the other, READ THIS BOOK.

9) I'm completely over pregnancy-related nausea.  And here, because people have been asking:

Quickie camera-phone shot, 16 weeks along.

10) A week ago yesterday was my and Jonathan's wedding anniversary.  We've been married 9 years, together for 10.  CRAZY!  On one hand I remember it like it was last week.  On the other hand I feel like we've been together forever.  I've already requested vacation time for the week of June 4th next year.  Any suggestions on what to do for a 10 year anniversary, keeping in mind I'll have a nursing 6-month old?