New topics

Time for new and more positive topics.

1. Weight loss. I'm pretty sure that I've finally hit my goal of 140, if not a bit less (no scale to be found to confirm). I am back in my pre-pregnancy pants and they are actually getting rather loose. Sadly I'm pretty sure this trick will be hard to replicate in the U.S., and especially in NYC. Quite simply, food here in Lalaland is pretty bleak, especially for a kosher-family with a strong penchant for really spicy ethnic food. So everything is bland and expensive and the produce is really bad so I haven't been snacking as much. And of course we're on foot all the time here. The fusspot and I probably spend at least an hour a day walking - 15 minutes each way to drop her at daycare and then another 15 minutes to pick her up, 10 each way to work, 15 if I go to the university, another 10 to the supermarket ... it adds up really quickly. And it is rather remarkable that in my little city there are no obese people and only a handful of plump ones. Really, truly. It's certainly not because the food is healthier here because if anything they eat either super-rich meat stuff or carbs, carbs, carbs and fruits and veggies are really expensive and hard to find (i.e. couldn't find either avocado or sweet potatos for weeks here when I was looking for good first baby foods). Also low-carb or sugar-free items are basically non-existent. So I credit the bland and boring and lack of public transport through the middle of my pre-modern city with the weight loss. No easy solutions for anyone still struggling.

2. the big trip is ON. And I am in full-out planning mode:
- scheduled consult with travel doc for me (trying to figure out if japan.ese en.ce.phali.tis vax is safe while breastfeeding)
- contacted the fusspot's ped about early vaccines (anyone know about getting Dtap early?) [If you're wondering, we vaccinate. Fully. Mostly on schedule. We're science people - science gave us our beautiful fusspot and we believe in our social responsibility to those who cannot be vaccinated. If you want to read what I consider a very-well written post on the subject by someone far more articulate than I, I'd recommend the second post down by City Girl Tales and following the links at the bottom].
- found place to store our personal effects while on said trip
- found plane tickets (to be purchased tomorrow)
- asked friend to buy train tickets to incredible, fabulous places such as this and this (and told her she had to find a carseat for our visit - she's already acquired one)
- started puzzling over how exactly to get a visa since I cannot hand over my passport for any period of time (although the fusspot and I are now both legal residents of Lalaland!!!). Any suggestions on getting a visa to the land-of-backpackers when you are not resident in the USA?

I know this post is dull, so here's the new excitement on the walk to the fusspot's daycare. It cracks us up every time we pass it (which may suggest we don't have the most sophisticated senses of humor between us):


(In case you can't tell, the digger is floating on a barge in the canal in front of the fusspot's daycare).