Thursday morning miscellany
* My morning is off kilter. Tuesday, a note was left on our doorstep saying that because of some work that needed doing, water would be turned off from 8-5 on Wednesday. Good timing, while most everybody is at work. No problem. Well, there is problem it is after 9 am on Thursday morning, and the water still isn't back on. *sigh* Sometimes New Orleans is not a fun place to live. It's this really flexible idea of "services" and "timeliness" that plagues just about everything from the U.S. mail to restaurants to just plain getting things done. My friend is out and about and when she gets home, I'm going over to her house to take a shower. Right now, though, I'm feeling a bit cold and grumpy about it.
* The church ladies are throwing me a little shower in a couple of weeks. So I fixed our Target registry last night. Now I kind of wish I had gone to BabiesRUs, b/c of better selection, but it doesn't really matter probably. At least it gives an idea to the people who want to know. It's not like registering for the wedding. I feel like I had a better idea then of what to do. I just stood there with the scan gun last night thinking, "i don't know." Like equipment: Yea, I'll probably need a stroller, but I don't know what kind of travelers Elvis and I will be together. Will I wish for something bigger? smaller? Same with the diaper bag. Bigger? smaller? what kind of pockets will I want? Things I won't know til I'm hanging out with Elvis. I guess I shouldn't think too hard about it. Like my book bags, I'll probably make a diaper bag suit my purposes, but I'm still a little up in the air with the stroller thing. (I couldn't pick out a diaper bag anyway at Target, because they were all on the top of the shelves! Like I could reach!!)
* Last night I was going over some brief timing things with my advisor, since previous pictures I had built now have to be revised due to impending Elvis. So I think I'll take my comps in January instead of September. The thing that my advisor suggested, though, that *duh* I should've thought of was that perhaps I should start working on my prospectus now, because if I wait until after comps, well that basically wastes a whole year out of the very stingy 4 yr limit the graduate school imposes. So then it occurred to me that perhaps I should try to get it done before I have Elvis. AAaaaugh!!!!! I'm very overwhelmed at this prospect. My work ethic hasn't been exactly high this semester, but at the same time, I am getting some stuff done, and I do have a lot on my plate. The thing that pushes me over the top, though, is teaching, which I didn't even want to do to begin with this sem! This class I'm teaching basically eats up most of Tuesdays and Thursdays, which are my "work" days. MWF are eaten up because I have to travel to Baton Rouge to attend classes and have very little precious time on campus. So I'm trying to snatch some work in here and there to keep up with my classes, and the idea of getting started on diss research is like a joke!
*I would really like to just have a shower and a cup of tea.
Update on water situation: Around noon (that is 19 hours late), my neighbor knocked on the door to say that the water was back on. He had turned it on or taken care of it or whatever (his words were "this whole block better kiss my ass"). The city forgot. They were fixing a main yesterday on a side street and forgot to turn the water on. The sad thing is...I'm not surprised. That's just living in NOLA folks. I spent a very pleasant morning at my friend's house taking a shower and eating my breakfast (sharing it with her 2 yr old who wanted to try everything on my plate "Me try!"--Hey, if a kid wants to try new food, I'm all for it). It's not every friend you could call with a desperate plea to use their shower. Now I have to finish preparing the test for my class I'm teaching. Heh, heh. I love giving tests...so much fun than taking them.
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we tried our best to go small with baby gear. not an easy task, since everything is so huge. we were given both a large diaper bag and a small one, and we almost NEVER use the big one and nearly always use the small. that may change as he gets bigger, but I doubt it. and we were at one point slightly obsessed with and overly proud of our stroller (combi savona), as it is lightweight and nimble. no need for an SUV-sized stroller for us. of course it had to be ordered, as bigger is everywhere....but wait! apparently it's on target.com now. all the better.
while it was fun, I am SO glad we're done with the picking-baby-gear stage.
Posted by: bobw | 03.03.05 10:27
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You'll most likely get a free diaper bag from the hospital. We happened to come home with a really great free bag (and subsequently gave it to friends who lost theirs). If you don't have a great preference, then don't sweat this choice. I really wanted something cute to haul around and LOVE the blue toile bag someone gave me as a gift.
Could you borrow a stroller from friends, at least until you find one you really like? Though our Graco is a little larger, it's very stable and fits cleanly through clothing aisles in stores. I also found a small umbrella stroller for $4 at a garage sale!
Posted by: Rebecca | 03.03.05 10:34
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When we lived in Philly, our water used to get shut off on a bi-weekly basis. It wasn't regularly scheduled, but it happened almost that frequently, and they'd leave it off for an hour or so at a time. We never really knew when it was going to happen, but at least it wasn't ever off for more than a day! Yucko! Good luck on regaining your water supply.
Posted by: Erica | 03.03.05 11:11
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The thing about registering and not knowing "exactly" what you need is that (usually) it is returnable or exchangable. We registered for the Diaper Neat system (saftey 1st) but then found out about the Diaper Champ (from the ever wonderful Wiegers). So when we received the Diaper Neat, we just exchanged it for the Diaper Champ. Just don't go putting everything together until you are sure you are going to need/ want it.
Posted by: mrscrumley | 03.03.05 12:13
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It couldn't be... I don't even know how I stumbled upon this blog- what is it with everyone having a blog these days? Jeannette??? Dibernardo?
Wow- remember our piano trio with Jessica H? This is Rebecca Hurley (Now James). Crazy huh?
Nice to "see" you!
PS- You're expecting!? CONGRATS! We have a 10 month old- Emily. :) I LOVE being a mom!
Posted by: Rebecca | 03.03.05 12:50
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Yes, RebeccaJ (there are 2 R's commenting on this entry funny)!!! C'est moi!!
You wouldn't believe the reconnections I've been through blog world!!! Or people I've barely known in "real life" who like my bosom blogging buddies now.
Congratulations on your kid!! Are you still playing? (I'm not. My bows are eaten up by mites...it's that bad. Musicology is my priority at the moment, though I do want to get playing again a little just for fun. Just gotta rehair the bows. :-P)
Posted by: Jeannette | 03.03.05 13:03
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Yes I'm playing a LOT. Rachel Hackenberger, Susan Hawkins, and I have formed a die-hard trio. We have 16 weddings booked this season. We even have business cards and brochures-- be impressed, very impressed! ha. We played in a wedding expo in January and got a ton of business that way. We are also working on a couple of albums due to come out in the fall. I'm also in the prog-rock band Glass Hammer- I've had some crazy adventures with them. I still play in the symphony and I have 7 wonderful students... well- 6 wonderful ones and 1 that's just a student but I won't get into that. :-/ We have a recital coming up next Thursday! Maybe I should get a cov-blog. Hmm for now I'm stuck on Livejournal and Xanga... Livejournal being my favorite. :)
Posted by: Rebecca J. | 03.03.05 13:09
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Jeanette,
I RARELY use my stroller because I much prefer to sling Kate. The only time I was glad we had it was when we went to the county fair. Now she's big enough for an umbrella stroller, so... just a thought if you are trying to minimize.
I would recommend a true infant car seat, only because it is very nice to be able to transition them to/from the car without waking them, especially when they are really small. Also, if your baby has reflux, they may NEED to sleep at an incline and the infant car seat is perfect for that.
Posted by: kristen | 03.03.05 13:26