SQUIRREL!!!

So, I haven't really spent much time with you lately dear readers, but honestly, nothing very exciting has been going to discuss. I can only beat the same few topics to death so much, and then it's just not interesting for me to write about, and definitely not very interesting for you to read about. I know that I'm basically writing this more for me than anything, and maybe the baby will get a kick out of it someday too see what it's dad was thinking about before it was born. Who knows. It's actually just sort of cathartic for me to write, as I have so few male friends with kids. So I'll recap the events of the past week or so.
Earlier this week, we went in to check on some things with the baby. My wife was having a rough time, and we were worried. They did an ultrasound, and the baby looks good, and I posted a picture of it. I'll assume you read the post, or you can check it out after this one.

I've been doing some more research and I think we've finally settled on a travel system to meet our stroller and car seat needs. I think we'll go with the Chicco Cortina stroller and the Chicco Keyfit 30 infant seat. The keyfit is highly rated by most of the baby sites and consumer guides I checked against as being a very good, and very safe car seat. The stroller I want to check out again, as I didn't play around with it too much, but it was rated as one of the better strollers for tall people (like myself.) The other well rated one was the Uppababy Vista. It was a nice stroller, but MSRP is around 600, and locally or online I can't find it cheaper than 479 from a reputable dealer. Took a look on craigslist too, but nothing really out there. As much as I was just about sold on it (it is a very nice, well optioned, well made stroller) justifying that much money for a stroller was a hard sell to the wife, and when I really thought about it, it is unnecessary. I just want something safe, easy to use, and durable that works with the car seat we want. We can get the whole Chicco travel system for less than the stroller. I'm still talking myself out of it, can't you tell? I really do like shiny things...

The research has moved on to Baby furniture. I think I found something I like even more than the last brand that I found that I liked, and my wife isn't going to be happy about it. However, it's on sale over this weekend at a local furniture dealer, so it puts it into what I consider reasonable range for furniture that should last into the college years. My wife is the tough sell however. She's in control of the money, for good reason. If she wasn't, I'd be buying all the expensive, shiny stuff that isn't necessary. But it's just so shiny...

On a completely different, personal note, when I didn't have anything to write here earlier this week, I posted a new short/micro story on my writing blog. You can find the link to your right. It's a little dark, and I promise you not everything I write is. In fact, that form of the story was inspired by the band Of Monsters and Men from Iceland, and their song "Little Talks" which has been stuck in my head for weeks. That is until this morning, when "TV Party" by Black Flag found it's way in.

As a sort of related piece to the writing blog (the link to the right!) I added a last minute class to my course load for my final semester of this degree program. Although it's not a requirement, it does fill a transfer requirement that I need to do in order to complete the degree I'd like to get after this. Anyway, I'm rambling on, so the new class I added was Creative Writing. Maybe it will help me become a better writer. I'm taking another writing class, Writing and Research, but that class is actually required for my degree. Between those, maybe I'll be able to focus my writing more. Or maybe not. Hey, what's that shiny thing over there...