Well, that was annoying.

The crib and dresser/changing table were just delivered--yay! But not only did they refuse to deliver the boxes inside the house (all I wanted was to just inside the door), they insisted they could only deliver it to the garage. Both boxes were shrink wrapped and strapped to a palette, which they wheeled into the garage and just left there. So now I have this random palette I have to figure out how to get rid of. That has to be the least customer-service friendly furniture delivery I've ever had. =(

Nesting

Today is the first day of the rest of my pregnancy, otherwise known as the third trimester! Woo hoo! I've spent the day getting my nursery decorating ideas together. Unfortunately, it looks like I was too late to get the fantastic rug from my inspiration nursery and that has kind of thrown everything else a little off. Here's what I have so far:

And here are the things I'm deciding on:


Supposedly, the blue drapes on the right are the same color as the blue in the rug (above). If that's true, I like the patterned drapes, but then feel I should go for a plain crib skirt and sheet (although I'm not sure the one in the picture is the right blue). If the patterned drapes aren't the same color, I'll probably go for the taupe drapes and then I like the patterned crib skirt--and I think the one pictured goes pretty well with the rug. I'll still have to see how everything looks in real life, though.

I can't believe I voted for him.

Obama picked Maryland over California??!!! Fear the turtle, my @ss.

Beware the Ides of March: Knitting Edition

Only I could knit for two hours and end up farther behind than when I started. Oh, yes, that's right. I'm knitting a sweater for B that has a relatively simple cable pattern up the front. It's the world's cutest sweater and I can't wait to see him wear it, but it might be at the expense of my sanity. Here's how the knitting went yesterday:

• Knit three rows, realize I forgot to add the decreases at the beginning and end of the rows.
• Unknit three rows.
• Re-knit the three rows and include the increases. Realize I've screwed up the pattern (on the wrong (read: easier)) side.
• Unknit three rows.
• Re-knit 8 rows, following pattern chart perfectly and remembering decreases. Re-consult written pattern and realize I was only supposed to decrease on the first three rows.
• Un-knit 5 rows.
• Realize I've dropped a stitch somewhere in the middle of the cable pattern (so I can't just pick it up).
• Un-knit 5 more rows and find the dropped stitch. Realize it was in the middle of the cable and probably could have just been picked up.
• Put down knitting and go get ice cream. Wish it were wine.

Total rows knit: -2.

Double Digits!

T minus 99 days and counting!

I no longer feel bad about my snacking choices.

Two words

that should have never, ever been put together: maternity thong.

Bizarro Dreams

I'm not a dreamer. I mean, I day dream about dinners at the French Laundry and owning a house on a Venetian canal, but that's generally the extent. They say that everyone dreams, but sometimes we don't remember our dreams. I don't know if that's true, but I do know that back in high school when we were supposed to be keeping nightly dream journals, M & I made up everything in ours because we didn't think our teacher would believe us that we simply hadn't dreamt anything.

The last few weeks, though, the dreams have been almost nightly. Most of them are more or less benign, except that for some reason I'm really, really angry and then I wake up angry. It's a very strange sensation--my whole body is tense and I'm practically hyperventilating from rage. Fortunately, I'm pretty good at calming myself down and within a minute or two I'm totally fine again. I'm not angry about anything (well, more than usual) in real life, though, so I'm chalking it up to hormones.

My last dream, however, was just...weird. I looked down and noticed a hole in my belly, out of which kept popping B's little foot. I kept poking the foot back in, because it was metal (very Terminator) and I knew B needed more time in utero to develop some flesh. Then I went around to several doctors to try to get someone to stitch up the hole, but nobody would pay attention to me. So I tracked down Noah Wiley, who graciously stitched me up. Clearly this is because Dr. Carter is back on ER. I'm not sure about the metal foot, though--maybe I've been seeing Schwarzenegger too much in the news lately?! Stupid budget impasse.

Be vewy, vewy qwuiet! We're hunting hybrids!

I drive a 1996 Saturn I inherited from my late grandmother. The thing has no features (I'm the only left in America rolling down their own windows) and burns from cigarette holes in the upholstery (miss you, Grandma!). But it runs great and affords no car payment. G, however, hates the car and has been trying for 3 years to get me to buy a new car. I've resisted (did I mention I have no car payment)...until now. Now that Benjamin is on the way, I'm starting to care about the 13-year-old airbags (do they still even work?!) and the lack of LATCH system. As much as I love my Saturn (well, how free it is, anyway), it's time. New baby=new car!

So MIL & I headed out to the auto mall yesterday to check out some hybrids. G's really interested in getting a hybrid and I'm really interested in sat nav. Fortunately, these goals align nicely (if not cheaply). The first three cars to meet the criteria were the Toyota Camry Hybrid, the Honda Civic Hybrid, and the Nissan Altima Hybrid. I'll start by saying the Camry Hybrid is right out. It drove nicely, but there were precious few features for the price. Here's how I compare the other two:

Civic Hybrid Pros

• Small car (that's a plus in my book).
• More responsive handling.
• USB outlet (for the connecting and charging the all-important iphone).
• Best gas mileage of any hybrid.
• Slightly better batter warranty (5 extra years, but no extra mileage).
• Honda quality reputation.

Civic Hybrid Cons

• Slightly cramped trying to crawl around the back seat.
• Ride was slightly bumpy.

Altima Hybrid Pros

• Cool key features (locks won't engage if the key is inside the car or trunk; If the battery is dead, you can plug the key into the car and still start it).
• Front crash protection (engine sits on bars that drop underneath the vehicle compartment in the event of a severe front-end collision).
• Much roomier interior.
• Rear-view backing camera (so cool, even *I* can back up the car, which I am notoriously bad at).
• Bose stereo sound.
• Rear air vents (will be important to Benjamin).
• Electic seat adjusters, with really good lumbar support.
• A smoother ride than the Civic Hybrid.

Altima Hybrid Cons

• $7K more expensive than the Civic Hybrid.
• Oddly small trunk space.
• It is a bigger car, and so generally more difficult to maneuver.

So there you go. I guess now I have to drag G out to test drive at least these two. Anybody have any other suggestions for cars we should be trying?