Surfergeeks

So today was the first ultrasound for Nikki. Maybe she should be making this post but she’s having a nap on the couch right now. We really didn’t know what to expect and actually had no clue where to go. A phone call to the hospital and about four transfers later we knew where we were going and off we went. I really do think that hospitals are designed to confuse. The fact that the Children’s Hospital seems to be perpetually under construction doesn’t help any either. We finally get to the waiting room for the ultrasound. After not too long of a wait Nikki was called to go in. Unfortunately I get to sit outside in the waiting room until right near the end. It was rather boring. The magazine selection consisted of about 4 Maclean’s with the newest one being September 2004. So I wait. And wait. I’m not sure really how long I waited as I don’t know what time she went in but around noon the technician came out to fetch to me. On the way in she comments that “she’s further along that you thought”. I’m sorry, what now? So apparently she believes that Nic’s 19 1/2 weeks pregnant. We believe she’s 17 weeks pregnant. We believe she’s due Aug 26 (40 weeks from Dec 3). She believes Aug 22. Somewhere, math doesn’t add up (hint: it’s not our math that doesn’t work). Regardless, the kid’ll pop out when it’s good and ready. (note the lack of a sexually identifying pronoun)

So it’s time to see the little goober. The tech slaps some goo on the ultrasound wand and starts pushing and prodding around Nikki’s belly, showing us all the things that we, as caring parents, should (and do) care about: two feet, two legs, two eyes, one head, two fists (I was REALLY hoping the kid’d be flipping us the bird). So of course it always come down to the usual question: “What is it?” Unfortunately, LHSC (that’s London Health Sciences Centre for you folks from out of town) seems to have this policy where they do not determine the sex. I won’t get into the semantics about how they are right – they DON’T determine the sex – genetics does that – they should just be reporting the sex. Of course, this probably NEVER flies with the parents-to-be. So our technician gives us the usual schpeil ending in “…Now that said…usually you would would want to look for something sticking out between the legs. Here’s the cord, here’s the one leg, here’s the other” and pretty much does everything short of either saying it or having a big flashing circle in between the legs highlighting where you’re supposed to look. So we look and get to draw our own conclusions. To both of us, it LOOKS like it’s a boy. But who knows. By far the coolest part of the whole ultrasound was seeing the little heart beat.

So that said, the above thumbnail is clickable. If you want to see a bigger picture, click on it and be amazed. That is our little kid. Not a bad picture if I say so myself. I’ve seen many of these ultrasound pictures that don’t really look like much, let alone a baby. What can I say, our kid rocks!

So, here it is Spring and with that comes a new look for the site. Again, I don’t entirely like it and I’m not done tweaking it yet (gotta add our pics to each post). Lemme know what you think.

So we’re getting excited around here. On Thursday we go for the ultrasound. If we had a scanner we would scan in the picture and post it. Maybe we’ll see if we can get Jen to scan it before she packs up her scanner. We can’t wait. Hearing the baby’s heartbeat was a thrill, seeing the little critter will be that much better!

Another reason we’re getting excited is that we’re getting a dishwasher! The one we already have may work – or may not – we’re honestly not sure. I wasn’t able to get it start pumping any water into it but I didn’t give it a long trial. The control knob on the front has no indicator to tell me which cycle I’m choosing. I tried a few of them and didn’t get any result which led me to believe one of two things: 1) The water is turned off or 2) It’s broken. If it’s #1, I’m guessing the water’s turned off for a reason.

So the end result is that a brand spankin’ new shiny Maytag Jetclean II 8750 dishwasher is heading our way as soon as London Major Appliances gets one in from Maytag! Yay for us! No more having to do dishes. We hate dishes.

Check out some of the worst jobs in history.

I really don’t think I’d want to do any of these for a living.

FINALLY! It’s only been 3 months or so but I’ve finally got around to uploading the pictures of the house to the Photo Gallery section. There is also a link over on the right near the bottom of that column.

So, Nikki & I, having failed to purchase bread to make sandwiches to bring our lunch (my fault this time), find it necessary to resort to dining out for lunch. We fairly quickly reach a decision to eat at Quiznos Subs. After all, Quiznos does make damn fine subs – plus we have 2 $1 off coupons. (Please note, that Nikki will be rolling her eyes about this point that I’m even wasting my time posting about this)

Lunch time rolls around and off we go. Nikki orders a regular Chicken Carbenerra and I get a large Mesquite Chicken. We both get combos. The cashier rings in my sub and two combos and comes up with a total. We give her the coupons and she tells us that we can only use one coupon. Odd – seeing that we have two subs. So, being the honest bloke that I am, I point out that the price isn’t correct and that we’re actually purchasing TWO subs to go along with our TWO combos. Common sense? One would think. So, she whacks a few buttons on the cash register and finally comes up with the correct total. At this point I ask if we can NOW use both coupons since we’re actually buying two subs. Nope. Still only one. (that sound you just heard was Common Sense hopping the Red Eye outta town) Okay – we’ll pay separately then. No problemo. We pay for our meals separately (by which I mean she rings them in separately and I hand her the debit card both times and complete both transactions) and get our $1 off each. The humourous part of the whole thing is that this cashier’s apparently lack of common sense, reasoning, logic, and perhaps intelligence, ultimately cost the franchise EXTRA money as we used our debit card twice – resulting in a double charge to the franchise for debit card purchases. Sure, it’s only a quarter or so, but it’s still ridiculous. (Our chequing account allows for unlimited transactions so we didn’t end up paying extra).

Drink Green!

So, had a Doctor’s appointment today. It went really well. The tests I had done last time came back and say I am very healthy, no diabetes and the like. Which is good.

And finally, the best part about today’s visit was Rob and I got to hear the baby’s heartbeat! It was absolutely incredible. The heart was going a mile a minute and was definitely not mine, seeing as it came from my stomach. I’ve been smiling since. The doctor says it’s a strong heartbeat, which is good. I think this is the first time I really feel pregnant. Even more so than when I had morning sickness, then I just felt sick, but now, I know there is a baby growing inside me. It’s feels quite weird to think about, but I am so excited now.

So apparently the website no worky very well in IE. Big surprise. IE sucks. Everything seems to work except for the boxes around each post. Apparently on IE it will draw the first box fine then after that it’s a crapshoot. Those still in the dark ages using IE – deal with it. If, when I edit the website, it happens to fix the problem, I assure you it was entirely by coincidence. Better yet – go get Firefox. Firefoxis god. Worship Firefox. 25,000,000 people can’t be wrong. You’ll love it! Tabbed browsing! Proper page display! Mouse Gestures! You won’t know how you lived without it! Go! Now!

Okay – anyone that knows me and cares at all about Star Wars knows that I was not keen on seeing Episode III. On numerous occasions the words out of my mouth were “I’ll see it just for the sake of having seen all six movies”. That all changed last night. You see, last night was the World Premiere of the trailer for RotS. It was on Fox’s The O.C. (yeah – lame I know – but I guess it’s got a fan base of desperate men and little girls) After watching the trailer my opinion has changed – I actually am excited for this movie now! It seems to be a lot darker and more action-packed than the previous two installments. I read online @ CNN today that Lucas figures that this movie will garner a PG-13 rating. This will be the first Star Wars movie to not be classified PG. Lucas himself said he wouldn’t take a 5- or 6-year old to see it. There wasn’t any Jar Jar in the trailer so I’m hoping that carries through to the whole movie. The only thing that slightly disappointed me about the trailer was the lack of Natalie. I was hoping that Leia’s wardrobe trend from IV, V, & VI would carry through. So far with I and II it appears to but the trailer couldn’t confirm III.

So, I’m pretty sure I know where I’m going to be either May 19 or 20 (work schedule dependant). Will you be there with me?