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April 01, 2004
Princess of Mars...
Is the name of the first Edgar Rice Burroughs "Mars" Book. (I mentioned them a few weeks back here.)
Why do I mention it now?
Seems Robert Rodriquez, the director of El Mariachi, Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Spy Kids is going to be directing a $100 Million+ version for Paramount for release in 2006. (They're thinking franchise.)
I can see me asking my mother in law for a green halloween costume with 4 arms. "It's ok. I already made Junior the sword."
Posted by Jim at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)
12 or so weeks to go...
The last two weeks have rendered any attempts by Fabulous Babe to hide her condition pointless. She's pretty much in the "obviously pregnant" stage.
She's seemingly past morning sickness as well but is now having trouble moving and getting around as easily as she used to. She can no longer bend over to pick things up as easily which is a bit of a bother.
Junior begins getting larger and larger at this stage. At this point it's all weight gain for the heir to the empire.
FB is pretty sick right now. She has a cold and is pretty miserable. I'm having trouble as well but will spare you, the gentle reader, the specifics. This weekend will be a time of rest for both of us. (Although I have to start getting the nursery wall paper together soon.)
Our office is across the hall from where the nursery is going to be. (Currently a big empty room where My Canadian Sister slept on an air mattress a couple of weeks ago.) It's strange to think that 4 months from now I'll be typing these posts with a baby monitor on the desktop.
I wouldn't trade that for anything.
Posted by Jim at 09:46 PM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2004
Still sick.
Ugh.
Fabulous Babe is still run down with the cold she's been fighting. She can't breathe well and her sinus passages are clogged tight.
I went to the doctor today. Wish I could say I was feeling better.
About the only one of us that isn't under the weather in some regard is Junior.
Ugh.
Posted by Jim at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)
April 09, 2004
1.2 on the Richter scale
Fabulous Babe and I were laying in bed getting ready to turn off the lights. I was reading and she was, in theory, watching the television. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed she was actually staring at her stomach instead.
*blip*
Her stomach moved.
*blip*
Again.
*blip*
Junior was moving around a bit. Each movement was causing a slight but visible motion. My book soon became much less interesting.
We sat watching as the movements continued. Eventually Junior must have gotten comfortable because the movement stopped. With that FB pulled the covers up and turned off her light.
Posted by Jim at 07:49 AM | Comments (0)
No monkeys allowed.
This Saturday I have an appointment for some quality time with a paint roller.
Fabulous Babe finished her nursery decoration decision making a couple of weeks ago after consulting a few people. (Few meaning "most everyone we know".) The wallpaper was the big hurdle. FB found some she liked but one of the contenders featured a truly wretched monkey that gave me the heebee jeebees.
Understand that I yielded 99% of the decorating rights to the nursery when I leveraged the Miata purchase a month or so ago. I was ok with this until I saw this devilish simian that was sure to be responsible for Junior having nightmares. I soon signed up as an official lobbyist of the "anti-Monkey wallpaper" party.
FB was gracious and agreed to drop the monkey inclusive pattern. It soon narrowed down to cute bunnies and hopping frogs. Both were pleasant and certainly less offensive than the monkey had been.
In the end the frogs won. (Which I had grown to like more than the bunnies.) Before we can hang the wallpaper yours truly has to put down a basecoat. By Saturday night we'll be on our way to having a nursery.
No monkeys. Hooray!
Posted by Jim at 08:07 AM | Comments (0)
April 11, 2004
Set Phasers on "Shop!"
Friday night we finally broke down to tackle that which we had been putting off for a while: registering at "Babies R Us".
We've been a few times to poke around and look at things. This time we went with intent. Fabulous Babe is having a couple of showers next month so it's time to get serious.
We went Friday night to avoid the crowds and it paid off. The Saturday or Sunday afternoon crowds weren't there and we had the run of the joint. We went through the paperwork quickly and then it was off to the aisles.
As with our Wedding registry my role was to wield the barcode scanner as directed by the better half. In the 5+ years since the wedding the scanners have evolved into devices that resemble phasers from Star Trek. They still operate the same way: sight barcode, pull trigger and "poof" it's on the registry.
We wandered around scanning for a couple of hours. To help in the process you receive a helpful list of the more commonly needed items to make sure you don't miss anything.
We went with most of the items you would expect. A few cute things but nothing to awful. The biggest accomplishment was sorting out the stroller which has been the bane of our previous visits to the baby emporium. We found one that FB likes and seems to collapse pretty easily.
There are still things we'll need but at least now we have a start on all of this. FB seemed to be pretty overwhelmed for a while but snapped out of it after a while. Maybe it was the aisle of breast pumps.
Posted by Jim at 10:24 PM | Comments (0)
Doh! Stupid paint.
When we were shopping for houses two years ago we wanted to find a nice house that was similar to our house in Seattle.
What we found was a new home that seemed to have most everything we wanted. It was a model that had rich, warm colors throughout.
Bah!
Saturday I started painting the nursery. The "rich, warm color" of the nursery's current paint sucked up the white paint like it was nothing. It took 2-3 coats to even begin to get ahead of it. Within a couple of hours the gallon we bought was gone and still the warm earth tone bled through.
By the time I ran out of paint store was closed. I'll have to go back by some evening this week so that I can get the painting done by weeks end. Foo.
By the way your's truly will NOT be hanging wallpaper. (Good advice Artist's mom.) I intend to let my Mother in Law and wife handle all of that.
Posted by Jim at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)
Happy Easter!
We had our 2nd year of our Easter Tradition of eating brunch with Mrs. Lost Control and her family. Mr. Lost Control is a member of a local golf club and the club's Easter Buffet is fabulous. Their three children got to take pictures with the Easter Bunny and were entertained with a bevy of balloon animals.
When we got home we intended to go back out but laying down on the bed led to a 2 hour nap. We woke up in time to catch the end of the Masters and then just puttered around.
We didn't fiddle with baskets this year. I think Fabulous Babe bought some candy yesterday but neither of us are huge candy people. Maybe next year.
Posted by Jim at 11:04 PM | Comments (0)
April 13, 2004
Stretch...
Fabulous Babe was treated to a strange experience today.
Junior slowly stretched an arm or leg against the front of her stomach for a prolonged period of time. While not visible it was a slightly weird sensation for her.
Babies. Life's path to the weird and unusual.
Posted by Jim at 08:31 PM | Comments (0)
April 14, 2004
Rent or Own?
Fabulous Babe discovered that her office has a lactating room. A place where a new mother can find some peace and quiet to be alone with the next most special thing in her life: Her breast pump.
We've so far tried to avoid any serious consideration of one of these widgets. FB has talked with some people and has a good idea of which one she is interested in. The heart of the problem is that these things have more options than a mini-van. Battery powered. Hand powered. Single or dual. Backpack or over the shoulder sling. Simply staggering.
It's also very clear that no real man has a hand in making these things. If it were up to me the Uddermaster 9000 would take a new mom from a "D" cup to an "A" in about 2 minutes tops. FB assures me that my future doesn't lay in Breast Pump design.
Whatever we decide FB doesn't want to put the breast pump on our registry because "It's too personal." Considering the many other personal moments that are going to be shared with complete strangers having one of these on a wish list seems trivial. None the less FB has final say.
Just remember that if you're in a store and see the Uddermaster 9000 you heard it here first.
Posted by Jim at 09:37 PM | Comments (0)
April 16, 2004
Baby 101
On Saturday and Sunday we're in school. Baby school.
It's the condensed class for soon to be parents. Poop, bottles, the miracle of birth, etc. In two days we'll learn everything we need to know to get us through the first year or two.
I'll fill you in on the details. I'm particularly looking forward to the movie. Thank God it isn't an IMAX theatre.
Posted by Jim at 08:39 PM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2004
Baby 101 Part 1.
Saturday morning. Fabulous Babe let me snooze for a bit but there was no putting off our soon to be parent classes.
The class was pretty much what I expected: 25 couples and an instructor. We weren't the oldest but the vast majority of participants were younger than we are. There was mom and grandmother couple but the rest of the class were all expectant moms and dads. (Or "support person" as our politically correct instructor proceeded to emphasize for the next two days.)
Sitting and looking around it was fun to people watch. The oldest couple, in their late 40's, looked a bit awkward. (She looked to be in a panic.) The couple we initially sat next to were very excited but about 10 years younger than us. A different couple included a woman that worked in the NICU (Natal Intensive Care Unit.) They were an "Oops!" couple which was a little ironic considering her field.
We reviewed a few films and went over materials. Our lunch break gave us a chance to learn a bit more about the other people in the class. Once couple know someone that FB works with. (Never doubt that it is a small world.) They have been married less than a year. (Yikes!)
The films weren't as bad as I thought. I did get in trouble with FB for laughing to loudly at one part. (A woman delivered a baby while on all fours only to then begin trying to turn around yelling "Where is it? Where is it?") Despite everyone laughing I still got in trouble.
During the relaxation period I dipped into the negative period when I relaxed to the point of quitting the arm motions and just enjoying the quiet. This too got me in mildly hot water as FB accused me of snoring. It's not my fault that all those years on the futon allow me to fall asleep on concrete.
By day's end we really hadn't learned much that we didn't know. We did pick up a few hints and tricks that might make the next few months a little easier. We'll see.
Posted by Jim at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)
Stupid weather...
All week long Fabulous Babe and I have been commenting that the one thing that would make our staying inside on Saturday and Sunday with the Baby 101 classes would be the fact that the weather was supposed to be so crappy with overcast skies and rain.
Want to guess how nice it was?
You got it. 70's and 80's with the only gloomy skies occuring tonight after dinner.
*sigh*
Posted by Jim at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)
Go Leafs Go!
Well the Leafs whiffed tonight against Ottawa.
This means that the darn Senators have a chance to win game 7 and dash the Leafs Stanley Cup dreams.
Come on guys! Go Leafs Go!
Maybe Mats will be back for Game 7. I hope so. Otherwise it's going to be a long playoff season.
Posted by Jim at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2004
Automotive woes
In the past week all three of our cars have been to the shop for tune-ups and repairs:
Scheduled: My Tribute had an oil change and some warranty work.
Scheduled: Baby car, the new Miata, got an oil change and some light work.
Unscheduled: Fabulous Babe has a 2 door Accord that all the Tuners drool over. It's alternator gave up the ghost yesterday.
Strange how the State Refund Check arrived just in time to pay for it all.
*rolls eyes*
Posted by Jim at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)
Gone Fishing
I'm out of town through Sunday afternoon. When I get back I'll do a pile of updates. I'm going to do some writing while I'm away.
Fabulous Babe is going to spend most of the weekend getting some well needed rest.
Ta Ta!
Posted by Jim at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)
April 26, 2004
In Memory of Pat Tillman
If you?ve been living in a cave for the last few days I?ll try to set this up properly: After September 11th Pat Tillman walked away from a $3.6 Million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals to join the US Army along with his brother, Kevin, a successful Minor League baseball player.
Pat was killed in action last Thursday doing what he felt would make a difference to people like you and I. He was that rarest of young men: a man who decided to follow his heart and turn aside wealth and fame for what he felt he had to do.
Others have spoken of his courage and his strength in the last few days. One only needs to do a search on his name to read thousands of words about the remarkable young man that this world lost last Thursday.
My sorrow is fresher than most as I just learned the horrible news today after being away over the weekend. Our society often times only reveals the brilliant light of our best in the darkness of their death.
Despite repeated attempts the Tillman brothers never spoke to the media after joining the service. Even the Army admitted that they wouldn?t have minded some public comments from the brothers for the free publicity that it would have provided. Under the circumstances I can?t blame them. They never did.
We live in a world filled with people who explore a man?s motives with cynicism and skepticism. Several have come forward since his death to belittle his family's loss and Pat's decision to serve. I'm strongly of the belief that Pat?s service and death should serve no political purpose. The Tillman family has chosen to keep their loss and grief private in respect to Pat?s wishes and actions.
Pat Tillman stands for the courage and conviction that we hope our sons and daughters will learn from us. Parents hope that our children will choose right from wrong, that their children will choose civic responsibility over safety, wealth and comfort. In the end that is what Pat's death stands as testimony.
The foundation of great societies is the sacrifice that its citizens are willing to make. The next time you see a sports star blathering about their salary or their 40,000 square foot home on MTV?s ?Cribs? take the time to think about the fortitude it took for Pat Tillman to walk away from wealth and fame. I pray I possess the ability to impart that strength of character to Junior.
Posted by Jim at 07:55 PM | Comments (0)
64ish days to go...
In theory we're somewhere around a couple of months from Junior's arrival. Fabulous Babe is now enduring a never ending series of kicks and rapid arm movements. Last night she discovered that Junior isn't really happy about FB laying on her left side.
It's a good thing that I made the guest bed a few weeks ago. My snoring drove FB to seek out refuge last night in our guest room. (Well my snoring and the cats.) Hopefully I won't offer a repeat performance or it's the cats and I that will be headed to the guest room. .
Posted by Jim at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)
April 27, 2004
"My oh my. That guest bed IS comfy."
After being violated for the 84th time last night by the Body Pillow I took my beloved ancient pillow and headed to the guest bed. To make sure Fabulous Babe got a good night sleep I took the cats with me.
What followed was a comedy of errors. The cats were freaking out over not being allowed back in the main bedroom. Eventually they calmed down and went into their usual routine of trying to climb my head. By 3:30 this morning I finally dozed off.
The things we do for love.
Posted by Jim at 08:46 PM | Comments (0)