Moved

It's done! Ying and I have successfully moved from our little condo into a much larger home. We're very happy in our new place and we invite all our friends to come visit us sometime. We'll have enough room when the baby arrives to put up a few relatives who'll be in town to help out.

The move into the new house went great. We invited a lot of people to come help and many of them turned out. I rented a big truck and everything was jammed inside in under an hour. The drive took 20 minutes and then everything was out in no time flat. Our movers were paid in beer, chilli and sugar and they all seemed to have had a good enough time.

Today I rode the proletariat chariot into work for the first time. It was actually pretty good. To and from work, I was one of the first people on and off. It was nice to get a seat for the 35 minutes journey. It looks like I'll be riding all week since we're supposed to get some snow for the rest of the week. It's also a little darker than I like while biking. The sun comes up earlier everyday so I don't think it will be long before I'm cycling in. Good thing too. I'm currently sitting in third in the weight loss challenge. I think I'll spend April and May going over Nose Hill so I get 300 m of climbing everyday.

Halftime

Tomorrow marks 140 days to go in Ying's pregnancy. So far it's been smooth sailing through calm waters. Ying did have a few months of nausea but that's all gone now. We've sold our condo and will take possession of our new house in two weeks. We've got a number of brave volunteers set to help us move so things should go well. We'll then have four full months to settle in and get ready for the baby. TBI gave us the wonderful Xmas gift of a stroller/car seat combo, Ying's mom is rapidly buying up baby clothes and my mom's starting with a rocking chair. We're still not ready to be parents but I hear everyone is nervous before their first. But the coolest thing is that we're starting to feel the baby kick! I felt it myself for the first time just four days ago. The ultrasounds were good but to feel the baby thumping away inside Ying's belly is the ultimate.

I should also be a little lighter when the baby arrives. At work, Jon, Dale and Victor decided that they needed to lose a little weight. Greg and I found out and asked to join in. The person who loses the smallest percentage of their original body-weight by 18 May has to chip in $100 for a nice group lunch. The rest chip in $75, $50, $25 and nothing based on their order of finish. At the official weigh-in, Dale was the low man at 84 kg while Victor crushed the scale at just over 124 kg; even after we made him take a pile of change and his cell phone out his pockets. Of course, the weigh-in was after a big lunch, fully clothed and, for me, there was the need to take a bathroom break. I came in second-lightest at just under 90 kg; which I find very embarrassing. I know I've bulked up a little in the past while but that's ridiculous! I hope my soon-to-be new commute which involves nearly two hours of biking a day will help. My goal is to get back to my high school weight of 75 kg. I've got some work ahead of me.