Collected Andy from the airport yesterday after his latest trip to Adelaide - he's scanned pictures from my appointments on Friday.

I actually had two appointments on Friday - one with my normal OBGYN, and a combined screen to check for genetic abnormalities like Down's Syndrome. Everything's looking good so far - bloodwork all came back within normal limits, and my weight, blood pressure etc. is coming along nicely .

The combined screen is a more detailed ultrasound to measure nuchal translucency - basically measuring the thickness of a fold of skin behind the neck, which is an early indicator of Down's Syndrome. Together with another blood test, this gives a risk ratio which can be compared with the normal age-related risk for Downs. My age-related risk is about 1:500 - the adjusted risk based on Friday's scan was about 1:2700! All good .

The scan machine was pretty amazing - lots of cursors and buttons for zooming in on various bits and pieces on the screen. The doctor was able to bring up the heartrate, and show the blood flowing through the umbilical cord. He also did a couple of 3D scans - must admit they looked a little wonky at this stage, there's not much tissue to bounce off yet! I was able to see an ear and a couple of ribs - but things will look much clearer when I go back in a couple of months for the next scan at about 22 weeks.

I was able to get a video of the scans that were taken - unfortunately we don't have a VHS machine here!! After the appointment the doctor said they could record to CDs too, so I'll have to do that next time. Now to find someone with a VHS player so we can copy the video down to CD and send it out!!

You know it's time to worry when the weather forecasters keep using words like 'brutal' ... this last week has been cold!! I guess this makes up for the cold weather I missed when I went back to Australia in December.

We had about half an inch of snow here on Tuesday last week, and since then the temperatures haven't really reached past 40F. There is still some remnants of the snow left in the front yard, due to the fact our yards are usually in shadow for most of the day at this time of year. The backyard is mostly permafrost now, so we don't have to worry about mowing the lawn for a few weeks yet!

It''s a bit like living in the UK again - sunny days with no heat in th air. Yesterday felt very strange - from inside the house it looked like a great day with all the sunlight streaming in through the lounge room. Outside was very different, according to our temperature gauge it didn't get much above freezing. Quite bizarre to go out for the  morning with three or four layers on, but wearing sunglasses for the glare!!

Good grief - what a weekend for news!!

- the Vice President accidentally shoots an old friend while out hunting ... and the guy happened to be a lawyer (uh oh!). With friends like that, who needs enemies?

- two Air Marshals have been accused of attempting to smuggle drugs through Customs.

So how can you top that from the Australian papers? Easy - Bogan Bingo!! Gotta love Australia .

Fairly busy day today - Andy's off to Adelaide again for a couple of weeks, so we had to get him packed and to the airport today. Found all his tax stuff, so hopefully he can get an appointment while he's there and get that wrapped up . He's much happier travelling with his 'new' Vaio laptop, which just fits into his camera backpack rather than a separate bag - much lighter and still as capable as his previous one.

Received a quick SMS from him to say he'd arrived safely in LA. Shortly after, received another message - he'd bumped into Cliff in the lounge! We met Cliff in the UK when Andy was studying - they were on the same course, and he lived just down the street from us. Amazing who you bump into when you travel - such a small world!

Andy's off to Adelaide again this weekend, so it was an opportune time to announce our news to the office - we're expecting our first child in September! I didn't allow myself to get quite so excited this time after the disappointment last year, but we had the ultrasound a couple of weeks ago and the doctor thinks this one's a keeper .

The doctor tried out the little doppler machine while waiting for the ultransound machine, and we were amazed to hear the heartbeat - nice and strong, about 180bpm by Andy's reckoning. I was so glad he was able to come with me and share this time - and keep me company while a nurse drew several vials of blood from my arm for various tests . We also received a printout of the ultrasound to start our 'photo album', so we've put a couple of piccies up in the gallery here.

Next visit is in a couple of weeks, so Andy will still be in Adelaide. Now I just have to figure out how to get some maternity uniforms sent over from Australia! I've been very lucky with very mild 'symptoms' during these first few weeks - no real nausea to speak of, just a bit more tired than usual, so I've been making the most of my afghans from last year and snoozing on the couch after work .

We've had the first taste of spring weather here over the last week, so we decided to drive into Seattle this afternoon and meet Jack at Alki Point for some evening shots of the city. The sunset colours were gorgeous, but it got cold pretty quickly - back to Jack's place and walked up the street for dinner to warm us up again .

A day of wild weather today - lots of debris over the roads from the winds overnight. Popped back into Easy Street for breakfast this morning with Jack, Gene & Kai - just as well we left early, as the high winds had continued and were whipping up the spray around the floating bridges. The 520 was closed down later in the day and the midspan opened up to relieve pressure - just in case there was damage to the bridge!

We'd spotted some posters a few weeks ago to a Sci Fi short film festival this weekend - twenty short films over two sessions of two hours each. Jack became intrigued over breakfast and decided to join us ... very glad he did, as he phoned us with the correct address of the cinema as we were on our way in .

The organisers were surprised to nearly sell out the 800-seat cinema, so I guess the night was a success! The first session was a bit of a mixed bag - a bit more "art" than "sci fi" in my opinion, but a couple of good ones in there to hold our attention. One of the benefits of a 'short film' festival - if you don't like it, it's not long to wait before it's over .

We had to clear the cinema at half time , but we had little green wristbands on to get back in again. The second session was much better - a bit closer to our collective interpretation of "sci fi"! All done by about 9.20pm, so we bolted back to the car to get out of the cold and headed home.

Another pearl of wisdom from our boss at work today, during the annual induction program this week - 

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up the remaining space. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous 'yes'.

The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the space between the sand particles. The students laughed.

"Now, said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - your family, your children, your health, your friends, your favourite passions - things that if everything else were lost, and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else - the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out to dinner. Go out with friends. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the washing. Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented.The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked.

"It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers."

No pony jokes this year, though!