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.