what's news with us

Not much, actually. But I'm going to tell you anyway.

Kate is doing well, considering she's harboring a parasite in her belly. No complications; no scares; no serious morning sickness. Just the horrible idea of going onto a website to see if there was a way we could morph our pictures together to see what our eagerly awaited lovechild might look like. There was. And we did it. And, somehow, our pictures got screwed up in what I hope is not a sign from Bruce Almighty about what sort of facial deformity our child will have.

As if the weird cheek thing wasn't enough. Apparently our child will also have no chin and a wad a chew in its mouth at all times.

In other baby news, my dad sent me this, which I proudly printed and hung on our refrigerator.

Also also, just before the much-famed Pennsylvania presidential primaries, Kate and I (both PA residents thanks to some fancy footwork on our parts) practiced our civic duties by filling out and sending in our absentee ballots. Here's Kate, proud to contribute to the furthering of her nation's democratic principles, even though we didn't vote with the bulk of our PA compatriots.

And finally, bolstered by both a strong showing in a hotel casino in Macedonia (four euros) and an upcoming trip to Monte Carlo (along with many other French Riviera hotspots), I decided to invite a few friends to the famed Wiesbaden casino last weekend, where ties, jackets, and a deep wallet aren't just helpful, they're required.

Almost immediately upon entering the glamorous and admittedly out of my league casino (slogan: "Where dreams come to die"), I went to the cheapest blackjack table (10 euros/hand), played four hands and lost all four. Hopefully I'll have better luck this weekend!

A new addition

In this video, we secretly switch Pecos's regular coffee with doggie treats. We also tell him some news about a new addition to our family.

The results speak for themselves - he's overwhelmed with excitement.

Needless to say, we're excited too. The baby's due Oct. 31 (like Edgar Allen Poe and Jack O'Lantern), which makes Kate 12 weeks pregnant.

Occassional ultrasounds and pregnancy updates will follow.

Springtime for Pecos in Germany

Skopje, Macedonia

I’m lazy, fat, and full of myself. And it’s a good thing.

After a wild Friday night in Nürnberg where Kate and I visited our friend Marc and I broke my non-drinking pledge (as supported and actually encouraged by Kate) with barbarian-like modesty, I hopped a flight to Skopje, Macedonia, to attend a conference for the week. Since arriving, I’ve noticed that I tend to work out less and eat more when I’m not influenced my wonderful and moderating spouse. (What doesn’t help is that the food pyramid in Macedonia looks more like a meat pyramid with spicy beef sausage at the bottom and deep-fried chicken filled with cheese wrapped in bacon at the top – and translucent fries and deep-fried cheese dripping down the sides).
And I also tend to find and perfect other vices as well. For instance, yesterday I played some European blackjack – where I won four euros, might I add shamelessly. Two nights ago on TV I watched a documentary about porn stars. And last night after dinner we went to a smoky Balkan saloon that had rowdy music that made the inner beast in me get up and shake my groove thing in front of important members of various southeastern European nations’ governments.

Skopje, so far, has obviously been a blast. The scenery here is beautiful – it’s a small, temperate city bisected by a meandering river, overlooked by a fortress and a Roman aqueduct, and surrounded in three directions by mountains – some of them snow-capped.

The locals are very friendly. The food is … meaty. And there’s a good mix of mosques, churches, pedestrian zone, and historic sites, including Mother Theresa’s birthplace.

Here's the original Roman acqueduct and a plaque commemorating where Mother Theresa was born.