Whew.

[rivka]

I can't remember the last time I accomplished so much in one weekend. Maybe the weekend I met curiousangel, fell for him, and won his heart. *grin*

Here's what I did:

Friday:
- Worked on a project I'm doing for the church long-range planning committee, beginning the data analysis for a recent member survey.

- Date with curiousangel: dinner at DuClaw's brewpub (I had the "Arizona Burger," which is what I have every time, because it's got smoked Gouda and chipotle mayonnaise. Why look further?) and a late showing of The Incredibles, which I absolutely loved. I did feel sort of cheated by the lack of "outtakes" after the credits, but otherwise, wow, what a fantastic movie.

Saturday:
- Big trip to Babies 'R Us, where we set up the bare bones of our registry. Essentially, we made our decisions about what major gear we want: crib and crib mattress, carseats, stroller(s), playard (a portable playpen/bassinet/changing table for the living room, because who wants to carry the baby up two flights of stairs to nap?). We had been feeling awfully undecided about most aspects of baby prep, so I feel very proud of getting these big decisions made. Now I can just add the small stuff and miscellaneous kipple bit by bit online.

kcobweb, if you don't already have a copy of the book Baby Bargains, you totally need it. We got good general suggestions about products and brands from the Girlfriend's Guide to Baby Gear, but Baby Bargains has detailed product reviews. It helped a lot. (Thanks, tammylc!)

- Made pretty graphs for the church data analysis project.

- Downloaded some songs from the free archives at Amazon and the Washington Post, and picked out songs for the holiday mix exchange. Wound up with a two-hour mix, which therefore needed to be cut down considerably. Argued with curiousangel about who got custody of various songs. Magnaminously ceded him some of my very favorites, including Jimmy Buffett's cover of Happy Christmas/War is Over, but dug in my heels on the Bing Crosby/David Bowie duet Peace on Earth/The Little Drummer Boy.

Sunday:
- Ushered at church. Afterward, raced around coffee hour talking to various parents and grandparents to get pediatrician recommendations.

- After church, spent nearly eight hours assembling Ikea furniture. We got three Trofast storage units in various sizes, one for each floor of the house, to hold the baby stuff we're already starting to accumulate. Those were easy to assemble, once we realized - after an indignant call to Ikea complaining that our pieces were cut wrong - that we were holding some essential parts upside down.

But we also got a big media storage unit which doesn't seem to be pictured online anywhere. See, our TV is currently on a rolling cabinet that is a little smaller than the TV itself. (Doesn't that sound like a recipe for a squashed baby?) And our media storage (CDs, etc.) is all at floor-level, in easy baby reach, as are the VCR and DVD player. (Doesn't that sound like a recipe for a real mess?) So we got a big, untippable unit with plenty of high-up storage that will keep things out of reach of tiny fingers. It's the most complicated Ikea item we've ever assembled, and it was a bitch and a half to put together - but it looks fabulous, so, yay.

- Bought emergency groceries, because it was 9pm when we finished the media unit and we hadn't had dinner and there was nothing in the house for breakfast either.

- Pretty much finalized the song order for my holiday mix exchange CD.

This morning, needless to say, I am tired and rather sore. But I do have a pleasant glow of accomplishment.

Comments

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Yay! Hurray for you.

[jmhm.livejournal.com]

OK, for the price of a road trip, you can have a perfectly nice never-been-used crib and mattress.

My young friend didn't take to it.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I'm torn, because on the one hand, there have been such big changes in SIDS research and safety recommendations since HM was born that the advice books strongly advise you not to use a hand-me-down crib.

On the other hand, though, (a) free stuff, and (b) a visit with cool people. Hrm.

We'll think about it. Thanks very much for the offer!

[jmhm.livejournal.com]

believe me, this is a state-of-the-art object. I went out and spent $300 at Barnes and Noble the day I found out.

Of that, three books were of actual use, but let that bide.

However, the bar space distance is still current, and the mattress is that impermeable spongeable covering stuff, which I believe is what they look for these days (as I understand it, it's surfaces that trap gasses that cause problems)

Besides, you know, visit.

[okoshun.livejournal.com]

I love the Trofast containers - we have the medium-sized one with a couple of large bins that we use as recycling containers and they're fantastic.

I haven't even started thinking about what to put on the holiday mix exchange CD - I should really start looking through my collection. :)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Oh, recycling! That's a very clever use for them.

And yes, you should do your holiday mix CD, because soon it will be December. :)

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Okay, so that means I should remove the Bowie/Crosby duet out of my mix. GMTA, you know, or at least have similar tastes in music :)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Hee! I knew you'd want to use it too. I suppose that all three of us could use it, and I'd just make sure we were sending to different people...

Also...

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

It's way too soon to be a problem yet, but when Lil' Critter reaches toddler size, you need to watch your computers. Three babies, three ruined floppy drives after the offspring decided to put things into the slot on the computer just like Daddy did. CD drives are smaller than floppy, so that may not be a problem but you need to keep an eye out anyway.

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

Thank you - book titles noted.

I feel so behind.... Except that we do have a lead on a crib and changing table (and yes, we'll check that the crib is new enough to comply with current standards). We also have nowhere to put stuff at the moment. I need to drag galagan out and make him do this with me. I think he thinks we've got plenty of time. :)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I need to drag galagan out and make him do this with me. I think he thinks we've got plenty of time.

I find that this line works well: "We should really get moving on that stuff now, before I get too big to help and you have to do it all yourself." *grin*

But actually, Michael has been very very involved.

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

Heck, between my broken-now-healing arm and the pregnancy, I haven't been doing any heavy lifting since August anyway - so he's already on his own for a lot of these purposes.

Oh, galagan is involved, but I'm finding I have to break him in slowly. He's still getting used to these ideas.

I'm trying to introduce new ideas one at a time - last night, I sat him down and had him read the sections that specifically dealt with the guy's (i.e. "coach's") duties according to the dreaded WTEWYE. I'm finding he's much more squeamish about the physical stuff than I ever knew before (this was true of my broken arm as well).

It's amazing to me how little guys know about pregnancy - for me, it's kind of work-related, plus I work with all women, so the topic comes up. But (most) guys are just clueless!

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I'd love to hear what's "emergency groceries" for you.

K.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

In this case, emergency groceries meant "enough food to last us the next 24 hours:" a quart of milk, a box of Cheerios, a ham slice, a bag of pre-washed salad greens, a tomato, some cheddar cheese (for healthy pregnancy snacks), and some Benecol (cholesterol-lowering margarine).

For dinner, late last night, I made some packaged red beans and rice (Zatarain's). I added the ham slice (diced) and half a red bell pepper that I had in the fridge (diced). I also made a quick salad (greens, tomato, carrots, balsamic vinaigrette dressing). I had Cheerios and milk for breakfast. The cheese will be an after-work snack, before we go back to the grocery store for a real shopping run. We didn't have an urgent need for the Benecol, but I walked right past it in the store so I figured I might as well get it.

A completely different take on emergency groceries can be found here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/rivka/147137.html) - it was my hurricane shopping list, from back in 1993 when Hurricane Isabel was expected to hit Baltimore as a Cat 4.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

And there I was thinking you were going to tell the story of the weekend you met curiousangel, fell for him, and won his heart...

So, is that online anywhere? :)