Our Little Lima Bean

So a couple of days after Tim passed his first actuary test, I passed my pregnancy test. I am now 6 weeks pregnant and other than feeling extremely tired, I'm feeling fairly good. We went to the doctor yesterday and had our first ultrasound. Other than looking like a pulsating lima bean, our baby is healthy. We should be able to meet this little ...boy?... girl? (sorry Dad, it's not a puppy) on November 6th (or somewhere around there). Kudos to Kimmie for figuring out the exact date before we even talked to the doctor!
The arrow is where the baby is at (click it for clarity).

More of the Same

Did you know that there are professional jugglers? That juggling is a sport? That there are competitions at which judges grade jugglers on difficulty and originality? I didn't either, until today. Even if you weren't impressed by the other videos (which you should have been!), try this one! 7-club, 9-ball, 9-ring juggling. 5-club backcrosses and 360 spins. Two-man back-to-back. Through the legs so much it looks trivial. 4-club 360 spins while balancing a club on the nose.

Link to WJF amazingness!

Juggling Master!

So, some of you know that I have been juggling since Christmas (thanks for the gag gift, big sis!). I was feeling somewhat cocky the other day, as I had pretty much mastered the 3-ball Cascade (or Fountain). Then I got on YouTube to figure out how to juggle four balls, and I discovered that I know nothing of juggling!

I've sort of gotten the Half Shower, as well as Tennis, and I'm fairly good at 2-ball juggling with either hand, though still weak with the left. I'm now working on the 3-ball Shower, a loop. Next will be the Windmill, then Chops, 2-up 1-up, Fake, Factory, and, the ultimate 3-ball pattern (in my humble opinion), Mill's Mess.

And somewhere in there, the 4-ball Cascade, which is actually 2-ball juggling in each hand at the same time!

The three links below are to videos that crushed my pride quite thoroughly. They were posted by a 16 year old! (Warning: the music may not be enjoyed by all, but you can always mute it!)

Shorter (0:58)
Longer (3:37)
3-ball Juggling (5:44, including a long intro)

If you like 'em, check out his other videos. They're all pretty cool!

Surprise Results

So last Monday, I woke up after studying all weekend for my test. I decided that I was done studying, as I had already absorbed about as much as I possibly could. So, I had a very relaxing morning; I got online and surfed a bit, and I annoyed Mongkut until he was ready to pounce. This is a rather sedate picture, but you can see he's in defensive posture.



Then, as per Heather's instructions, I made myself a protein-filled breakfast. Adding pepper-jack to the scrambled eggs was a delicious idea!



I put in some good music...
















and got on the road. I had a companion for most of the trip north--Mazduncan Idaho!!! (or at least one of his clones).



It rained for a bit.



Finally, I arrived at the test site. I had 3 hours to complete 30 multiple choice questions, each with 5 possible answers. Three hours may seem like a lot of time, but the questions are tough.

After two and a half hours, I had answered all of the questions. Unfortunately, I was only confident on 13 of them! When I submitted my answers, I was expecting to fail; here are my results:



I passed! Not an official report, but the receptionist said that they have never heard of anyone failing after receiving a good report on the immediate grading. I'm trying to keep my hopes down, just in case I'm the first, but it ain't easy!

It makes me feel a bit like Gideon. God had him take only 300 men against the multitudes of the Midianites so that the Israelites would know that they hadn't saved themselves, but that God had. With me being as unprepared as I was, I know that God achieved the passing grade, not me!

Once back in Corvallis, Heather & I went to Ruby Tuesday to celebrate.



And here's a pic that I don't have a place for, but am really happy with.