Ponyo Ponyo, Fishie in the Sea...

What an exhausting, entertaining weekend! Matt and my mother-in-law left for T-town this afternoon after a full three days of activity. First, though, Happy Labor Day!

Quite a few restaurants and coffeeshops were open. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of labor day? Oh well. Consumers must consume!!

This weekend was characterized by a few things. We enjoyed a wine, cheese, and bread feast ala Molto Formaggio on Saturday. Sunday afternoon, we (Andrew, Matt, Mom-in-law, Jeremy, Sarah, and my little sister) hit up Northpark Mall to watch Ponyo, the new Miyazaki children's animated film, and to do a little...

SHOPPING!!!

Due to Labor Day sales, the big retail stores were infested with deal-hungry shopping sharks (99.9% female) combing the 70% off sales racks. The shoe section was a war zone: boxes thrown everywhere, shoes missing partners, displays missing pieces, piles of jumbled pumps and heels laying like carnage on the floor. Sometimes we came across the glum boyfriend/husband/young son, slouched on dressing room couches and fitting chairs and staring at their shoes or their cellphones. Usually holding/weighted by/drowning in lots and lots of bags :).

Three of us McConnell women and my poor sister (muahaha, she doesn't like shopping) looked at shoes, purses, dresses, shirts, jewelry, and then went to the next store to look at more shoes, purses, dresses, shirts, and jewelry. My mother-in-law got me a gorgeous dress that I can wear now AND after pregnancy!

And that tangentially brings me to the topic of our Baby... I found this randomly cute little chubby-cheeked Asian baby picture.

Awwww

I wonder if my girl will look more like that, or more like Andrew. I guess that's why Andrew occasionally refers to our potential progeny as "experiments." True. Callous, but true :).

My mom (my real mom) loaded us up with free baby things this weekend. She has been contacting all her friends whose kiddos are grown up and growing up, and we are now the recipient of their closet-clearing generosity! Really, it's the best thing ever. We acquired cribs, playpens, highchairs, carseats (both infant and baby), strollers and other random items without spending a dime. It's nice, especially since Baby won't be getting a baby shower. We've definitely been "showered" with hand-me-downs and lots of love!!

Showers make me think of water, and water reminds me of PONYO. (Bear with me, this is how my mind works).

My opinion? It was a very cute movie. It was kid-friendly. Otherwise, it wasn't one of Miyazaki's strongest works. The art was very different, almost crayon-y. Ponyo was a pretty movie, and although it had glaring plot flaws, I enjoyed it :). Basically, I liked it. Andrew didn't.

Well, it might be time to end this post. I am having the hardest time getting back to studying!

Andrew just leaned over in his chair and whispered, "I love you." Of course that merited a kiss :).

And now to proteins and hemoglobin oxygen curves...