Arts and Crafts

You'd think with as much going on as there is, I would be blogging more about my recent adventures. Sadly, no. While waiting for the new baby has been interesting, it would be really boring to be constantly writing, "well, I gained another 4 pounds this week, and I lost the ability to see the drawstrings on my pants!" My sister suggested that I blog about what we've been doing to get ready for baby, so I guess I'll do a little of that.
Darren and I have actually not purchased one single item for the kiddo. We were given the crib and changing table by a friend, and most of the rest of stuff came from family and friends at my baby shower a few weeks ago. Since we figure we'll be buying a ton later on, we decided that we would each first make something for the baby. Darren had actually planned a long time ago what he was going to do if we found out we were having a boy. He planned and plotted and finally went out and spent a decent amount on supplies. He spent several hours working on it at the dining room table. Trust me, the final result is awesome. Did I not mention what "it" is? Too bad, you'll have to wait.
As for me, I was going to fall back on my old stand-by of making a cross-stitch sampler. I made one for Laura's baby and I was just going to use the same pattern. Then my mom mentioned she was making one and I lost all momentum for that. I think I'm going to end up making a Christmas stocking, but I haven't ruled anything out. Any suggestions? Can I make anything neat out of unused orthopaedic implants?
The nurserice/officery seems to be coming along. We're planning on leaving the desk in the room (mostly because we have no where else to put it), but the bookshelf and cds have already been moved. My in-laws are coming in tomorrow to move the bed and file cabinets and start setting up the baby furniture. The room is already yellow, so we'll just leave that as-is.
Other than that, things are pretty much normal. Work is work, but not too stressful for me right now. My doctors appointments have gone on without any problems and the baby is healthy. I do hate the heat, though. I thought it was one of those wimpy mom-to-be things that they were always hot, but trust me, I am always hot. I also laugh at the wimpy mom exercises in my books. For example: sit in a chair and lift one leg up into the air and then lower it back down. Repeat 5 or 6 times. If you get tired, take a break in the middle (slightly exaggerated, but only slightly). Seriously? Is there a version where I can strap 60 pounds on my ankles to make it interesting?
Alright, enough rambling. I think I'm going to turn the air conditioner down a few more degrees and take a nap.

Life after cable

When Darren and I first got married, we didn't get cable for nearly two years. I was finishing med school, he was finishing his Master's, and we didn't have a ton of money (which hasn't changed). So instead of mind-numbing cable shows, we played cards, played all the Simpsons games on PS2 (Road Rage is fantastic, btw), and watched our favorite shows on DVD. Our parents also loved it because we would come visit whenever we wanted to watch a sporting event on ESPN.
With the coming of the new baby, we have once again decided to cut some costs and eliminate junk such as cable. With Comcast now getting close to $90 a month for basic service, we decided to get rid of it completely. We also switched to DSL to save a few bucks. We bought a TiVo and an HD antenna to continue to be able to record our favorite shows (Lost, 30 Rock, um, and well, Pushing Daisies got cancelled, um, maybe something good will start this fall). We're still working out the kinks with the antenna (we share two walls with neighbors), but I'm hoping we'll have all the broadcast channels soon. We're also getting NetFlix so we can rent the 10 movies I don't have on DVD.
I spent the weekend reading and playing Wii, and I started to remember the good old days before I wasted time with things like Jon and Kate plus 8. Darren is working on a project for the baby, and I'll start my own soon. Here's to well-spent free time!