Once again, I ,Ben, am attempting a post on the blog. Perhaps the most noteworthy news is... Angie is expecting!! She is in her 13 week and is due October 4. To the right is a picture of our first ultrasound. I dare say he takes after his father already, gray and blubbery. ;) Her first trimester started out deceptively benevolent and we thought she might be spared the ravages of early pregnancy. But alas, the morning sickness, in all its fury, finally blossomed. We have been tallying each "kill" on our white board, which is beginning to look like the side of a WWII bomber, and a highly successful one at that if you get my drift. I will leave the telling of the more harrowing occurances to Angie and conclude by saying that she has been handling it all like a champ and I am so impressed by here strength and good attitude through it all. And, we're hoping as she moves into the second trimester that things will start improving. We also acquired our first piece of baby equipment; the indispensable Diaper Genie. And thanks to a hot tip, got it at a really good deal.

This past Sunday Angie and I celebrated our first anniversary of being married. Its hard to believe how fast time has flown by. As we looked back we realized we made some great memories during our first year. On the other hand, we are both breathing a sigh of relief now that the first year is behind us. Everyone said the first year is the hardest. I admit there were some difficult times, but really, now that we are expecting, can the first year of marriage be harder than the subsequent 25 to 30 years or more of raising a family? quoth the ignorant newlywed. Perhaps my skepticism may prove to be unfounded, and that the first year is indeed the most challenging. All I know is, with someone this cute by my side, how bad can it get?

In other news, I am still unemployed, at least in the burden-on-society sense of the word. Since I have abdicated my role as provider in our fledgling household, to make restitution I have become quite gainfully employed as a homemaker. I prepare meals, wash dishes and laundry, tidy up and I have even taken up sewing. While many readers will be quite awestruck at this revelation, it is indeed true. It's the least I can do for room and board. I am not proud of our role reversals and can assure you it has not been pleasant either. If anything good has come from all this, you could say I'm "chomping at the bit," as it were, to get back to school which starts in April. Happily, I have only two semesters left and feel a renewed energy at the prospect of returning to my studies.

During this time, I have been flirting with the idea of taking the GRE in preparation for graduate school. This has been a humbling experience particularly relating to the math section of the test. As an engineering student, I had acquired a certain perception of my math proficiency. That proficiency, I fear, has been sternly called into question of late. But the more I practice, the better I am getting at it. Anyway, I really think grad school would be a great way to go after I graduate. But there are a lot of considerations as well. Angie and I have by no means decided one way or the other, but since I am graduating in December, we'll be needing to come up with some sort of plan.

Well, that about covers it for now. Hopefully we'll be able to write some more soon. We send our love to you all and hope you find yourselves happy and healthy.