Belly, Baking Disaster, Seattle Underground

First, because it's been requested, here is a picture of me at 10 weeks, 1 day. Yeah, not much there besides the "fluff" I already had in plenty supply. And yes, I sucked in for the photo. Between the fluff and the bloat, I figured sucking in was the best chance I had at actually showing a baby belly. Still nothing much to see. Next photo at 15 weeks and in 5 week increments after that. Carrie said she never took belly pictures with her first kid and now wishes she had...so here I am.
We went to a gift exchange on Friday night and were asked to bring a potluck item. Yes, I chose a dessert. I found a recipe for a peppermint cake and I already had the ingredients so I made it when I got home from work on Friday. I was in a hurry, but I let the bundt cake cool down for about 8 minutes before placing the designated Christmas-themed paper plate on top of it and turning it over. I was too close to the edge of the countertop so when I turned over the cake, it started to fall off the edge of the counter. I tried to catch it. This is the result of when an oven mitt meets a warm bundt cake while trying to save its life...
I still took the cake to the party and people ate it so I guess the note I wrote that I attached to the plate worked. The note just explained that a dog didn't get to the cake - just an oven mitt.

Did you know that Seattle has an underground? Such an interesting story. On Saturday morning, D and I went to brunch at the Library Bistro downtown with some friends and then afterward went on the Seattle Underground tour. Oddly enough, most of the people with us had grown up in Seattle yet none of us had ever been on the tour. You can read more about it here, but here's the scoop in general:

In 1889, there was a Seattle fire which leveled most of the buildings in the city.

The city was already a stinky mess because of tides and sewage and other problems, so the mayor decided to use the fire as an opportunity to "start over" and even out the terrain.

The people who had come to Seattle to start businesses didn't want to wait 8-10 years (while the terrain was being leveled) to make money so they built their businesses anyway (now out of stone and brick instead of flamable wood).

Thick stone walls were built around the buildings making "alleys" where the streets would be.

The hillsides surrounding Seattle were blasted with water and the erosion of the land forced the terrain into the "alleys" in the city below, effectively making the streets 2nd story to the buildings.

The picture to the right is an original "Crapper" toilet used back in the late 1800s in underground Seattle. In Seattle, because of the tide, these used to flush backwards...sometimes 4 to 6 feet high. Yuck!

At first, pedestrians climbed ladders from the businesses to the streets above. Some of the walls that pedestrians were climbing were up to 32' high! No one died in the Seattle fire, but 17 people died by falling from street level to the "sidewalk" below. They finally decided to build a sidewalk on the 2nd story level, making the 1st story of the businesses "underground".

The underground portion of Seattle was a den of drugs, gambling, and prostitution after it was condemned in 1907.

The picture to the left is of the Seattle Underground. We are walking on what used to be the first level sidewalk. You see the stone wall to the left then to the right you would see the actual building's first floor. Above us is the street sidewalk and above the stone wall is the street!

Today, the Underground is used as a tour. When you're walking around downtown Seattle around Pioneer Square, just remember that if you're on a sidewalk, chances are there are people taking a tour right underneath you! They have glass skylights original to when they first paved in the sidewalks to the 2nd story of buildings. So fascinating how the glass is now purple instead of clear because of age.

What a fun tour! I highly recommend taking the Seattle Underground Tour if you come to Seattle (which you should!).

Yesterday we placed membership with the church in Kent where D's family attend. We had a great meeting with the elders and I'm already signed up to substitute teach the 4-5 year olds and D is signed up to substitute teach the 7th graders. D also volunteered to help record the sermons and anything technical. We feel at home - it's a great group.

We put up our Christmas tree yesterday afternoon. I've been a big advocate of fake Christmas trees, especially since the critters that crawl out of the live ones really don't appeal to me. And all the cleaning up pine needles is for the birds! However, I've realized once again this year that separating the branches of fake trees isn't all that fun. I guess either way there are advantages and disadvantages! Do you do a fake or a real tree?

Tonight my Christmas decorations go up. I'll be glad when it's done!

Have a good Monday.