For the last few months Jeni has wanted to try knitting. When we finally got some knitting stuff, for some bizarre and unknown reason I decided to try it out too. After getting used to knitting by making a little square washcloth (spit-rag?), I decided to try something a little more intense. So, I made this hat! Our youngest neighbor helped in the final testing phases of the project:



Nessie will have a warm head, if nothing else!

I'm sorry for the light blogging from me recently. Spring break started on Saturday after a gruelling week, and on Monday I started EMS at a poultry (eggs) farm. I spent Monday scraping bird poop of a rotating belt, and today collecting, sorting, sizing, and boxing eggs. I dropped/ destroyed 5 dozen eggs today, which they tell me is better than many do on their first day with the eggs. FIVE DOZEN eggs, people. Sheesh. I also got to pull dead hens out of cages, and learn how to hold some live ones.

I'll try to post more this weekend, but next week will be light too since A.J. and Rachelle are coming! Yayayayayayay!!!!!!!!!!

In the meantime, satisfy yourselves with a picture of me after a day at the poultry farm, looking stylish (and pretty dang preggo) while eating a homemade lemonade popsicle.

The strict budget we've set ourselves here to in Edinburgh leaves little room for discretionary spending. Thankfully, Jeni's dad has come to our rescue and provided us with a credit card which we use from time to time to go out and get a basket of chips and some drinks, just to get a break from routine. Yesterday, while taking advantage of his generosity (thanks for the Guiness, Don!) Jeni and I had an interesting conversation which I'll recount in part here.

Our conversation was about the reactions we get from people when they hear we are having a child, specifically about their reaction when they hear that I, Matt, will be the primary caregiver, a.k.a. the stay at home dad. The best example of this reaction is a conversation I had while meeting a new person on a Sunday morning at church. I told this woman how Jeni and I ended up in Scotland: that after I graduated college I came with her overseas while she goes to vet school, and that I'm not working but planning to be the primary caregiver of our child. Her response was, "That must be so hard for you, I mean, as a man."

Now, this is obviously a loaded statement, one which could be deconstructed myriad ways. In our coversation, Jeni and I focused on the way that this sort of reaction devalues the work of raising children. In essence, this reaction says that I am wasting my education if I simply devote myself to rasing children.

I pointed out that what I am doing isn't really so strange. In fact, I'm following in the footsteps of probably thousands of Whitworth women who have done the same thing before me, that is to recieve an expensive, private school degree and then to go on to dedicate myself to raising a family. Jeni then mentioned a recent New York Times article criticising women who make this choice, saying that if women are just going to be moms they shouldn't waste their time and money on education.

I lamented the fact that it seems like most people now see education as a purely financial investment, one which which is made to increase earning power, but not to change or enlighten the self. I feel that my time at Whitworth made a great impact on me, and I will raise my children radically differently than if I hadn't had that experience. Most importantly of all, I'm not giving anything up or making any great sacrifice (at least not one that causes me pain) in order to take care of our kids instead of earning money. How can we avoid the negative reactions people have to our plans for raising our kids?

Jeni came up with this great idea. Instead of telling people I'm a stay at home dad, we could simply tell them that I volunteer full time for a non-profit organization which cares for the needs of children. The organization is small, and most of the work is done via one-on-one or small group mentoring. I don't get paid for the work, but Jeni's earnings as a veterinarian will be more than adequate to provide for the needs of our family. This job is a sacrifice, but I feel it is my duty lest these kids just slip through the cracks and get lost in the system.

Man, now that's the kind of job people expect you to get after graduating from a Christian college. I might even get a write up in the alumni newsletter!

Well, there's our conversation. I actually felt even better about being a stay at home dad after having it. Of course, there are many serious questions we didn't deal with in the course of our conversation. Why as traditional gender roles are being deconstructed, which we always thought would bring about more equality, are traditionally female roles such as raising a family being devalued? Why are people more comfortable with the idea of Jeni quitting school and leaving behind all her chances of becoming a veterinarian to care for our child, than they are with me giving up whatever ambitions I have to care for our child?

Wow! Look how angry he looks! If you won't listen to any of us, listen to him!

So, Matt woke up ridiculously (like 0500) early this morning, and I was feeling similarly restless. However, I am not a girl who gives up on sleep lightly, so I tossed and turned until I fell back asleep at 6:45. At 8:30, Matt came in to wake me up, but I felt significantly less grumpy when he handed me a mysterious package. "Here, we got this in the mail." Since I know Mom's sending me a package, I thought it might be hers, but the address was...

Davis, CA!!

Kayla sent us a package full of goodies: Girl Scout cookies (you understand, Kay. You understand), two cool Davis Vet T-shirts, a letter, and goodies from Megan and Chris' wedding. I was in paroxysms of delight.


Yay! I love surprise packages! I love friends! I love weddings! And I LOVE Girl Scout Cookies!

Man, I'm in a good mood. If only I didn't have an epidemiology final tomorrow and a kidney infection today. Depsite those, I am grinning (and eating a Samoa).

I just talked to my twin brother, Steve, who told me that his son Coby Mitchell was born this morning without any complications. Yay! He was 7lbs, 2oz and 21 inches long. Steve sounded exhausted and very much in love with Coby. He kept repeating, "He looks just like me. We look the same." Awwww.

Here's a blurry shot that Steve sent me from his cell phone camera:



Also, our good friends Amy and Justin are either just about to have, having, or have just had their baby girl. Yay for them!

Man, today is El Dio por Los Ninos. Seriously.

You, oh faithful reader (okay, all 5 faithful readers) may be wondering what has happened to the collective Price in the last week or so. Have we run off to Aruba to lay semi-clothed on a warm beach? Have we decided to give up the internets for Lent? Have we been so consumed by important other things that all thoughts of blogging have completely flown our minds?

No. We've just been really tired.

I, as usual, am tired of feeling sick and sore-backed all the time, though the Head Cold of Doom has receded somewhat. I am also tired of ridiculous group projects (15 pages on bacon processing? Check.) and ridiculous individual projects (15 pages on pig husbandry? Check.), as well as an ever-more-confusing class schedule and attempting to wrangle EMS for Easter and summer. I am really, really looking forward to break (one week of my 4-weak Easter will be spent with the A.J. and the Rachelle!). I need it. I am also writing a manifesto that will soon be known as prospective GEPs FAQ, or something. It's a beast.

Matt, I think, is tired of having a useless schlub of a wife. When was the last time I did the laundry? Just the thought of carrying laundry baskets down the stairs makes my back twitch with displeasure.

We are both tired because we are learning to knit and we are staying up late at night to work on projects! Matt, of course, is way better than me, but we are both having a lot of fun.

I think I've convinced Matt (or he's convinced himself) to write a post in the next day or so. In the meantime, we now have Skype (our user name is thescotvet) so you should say hello!

Still feeling whiny, especially since I have now developed the Head Cold of Doom. I feel like someone took a brick to my forehead and hit my eyeballs and all my sinuses. Yech.

Welcome to the folk I sent this way from my email! I hope this site is helpful for you guys. Though it may seem like it from the past month or so, it is really not dedicated to telling the wide world about the impending baby, and actually contains stories about, you know, Edinburgh. And vet school. Have fun looking at pictures and archives and ridiculous quotes!

...is the way the Brits say "whining". I kind of like it, and it makes me laugh that Harry Potter's detestable family live in a town called Little Whinging. I heart Harry, and it makes me dance around like an overexcited puppy when I think about the last book coming out this summer! We get a book and a movie in one year; how fabulous is that?

*The rest of this post is much less cheerful, so feel free to skip it*

I have been feeling pretty down lately. Mostly, this comes from my realisation that I am officially The World's Worst Pregnant Woman. Seriously, I am pretty much miserable. Even when I don't feel like forcefully removing my own stomach contents from their proper home, I am exahusted. I am also constantly sore and achy (including places I have never considered possible outlets of pain), crabby, and depressed. My skin is bad. My nose is stuffy. I am constantly bloated, and have to pee every 20 minutes. Blech.

I feel like most pregnant woman love being pregnant, that they all maintain that everything after 12 weeks is a cakewalk, they they feel glowing and radiant and thrilled, and spend all their time looking at baby clothes. I know this is totally ridiculous, but it still seems like I'm supposed to feel, well, good about having a baby. I know some of you think I'm glowing, but I don't feel the glow so much. Just the wretchedness.

I am still really excited about Nessie. We had our 12-13 week ultrasound yesterday, and saw the little one dancing around in there like crazy! It was really neat, and I am definitely happy about the little parasite so adorably chillaxing in my womb. I am excited to go back to L.A. this summer and find out is it's male or female, to have a big party/shower planned by the inimitable sister/mother/best friend's mother combo, to shop for a maternity dress to wear to B&A's wedding, etc. I want the baby! I want the Nessie!

I just don't like the pregnancy part. And I feel ungrateful that I feel this way. And I feel like I am ruining our budget by only desiring foods that are undeniably luxury, like bagels and raspberries and Cinnamon Toast Crunch and milkshakes and pizza, while feeling nauseatingly averse to our stock dinner items like beef stew, curry, anything with chicken, most creamy things, the smell of cooked bread, etc. Ack! I am losing my mind! . Whinge whinge whinge.

Does anybody know how to deal with a grouchy, whiny pregnant woman?

Earlier this week as Jeni was poking and proding horses and cows, I took a stroll up Arthur's Seat to take a look out at the city since it was a clear day. "What's Arthur's Seat" you ask? Well, it's a massive extinct volcano placed right smack in the middle of the city. What, doesn't the city you live in have a massive extinct volcano of its own? Nope? Well, it's just one of the perks of living in Edinburgh, I guess. Click here to go to flickr to see photos of the city from above, a few from below and one of Jeni glowing. Just click for the next photo on the right side of the page.