lewis and clark had a journal. you, beth-annie, have a diary.

Friday, May 26, 2006
I can't seem to find AquaDrops anywhere anymore.  Boooooo!!!!  If anyone manages to find them in a store somewhere, please let me know where.

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Despite our close proximity to Madison, the second-largest city in Wisconsin, we have to drive to Janesville to get our crib.  Of course.

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It is very annoying to not be able to sleep on my stomach anymore, which has always been my sleep position of choice.

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Three of the plants in our front landscaping bed we put together last year are dead.  :-(  We're going to have to replace them now, and seeing as all three of them were supposed to be "evergreen" in the winter (which is part of why we chose them), we probably will stay away from that type this time.  The rhododendron seemed to die in late fall when all its "evergreen" leaves turned brown and curled up and died;  the azalea probably died in early winter when all its leaves fell off;  and the red-headed pieris looked great all winter, nice and green still, until spring came when all its leaves died and fell off.  I don't get it.  But me sad.

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We should have our first baby picture on June 9th, as that's when my ultrasound is scheduled for.  My instruction sheet tells me I need an "uncomfortably full bladder."  Goody.  Because that's my favorite kind of full bladder.
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Monday, May 22, 2006
Edumacation needed.
From someone who knows how to hang a plant from a soffit. Because it sure isn't obvious to me.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Mmmmm... yummy words....
Mikey done gone and won his second-round game and is in the finals -- today and tomorrow -- of the Tournament of Champions.  Wackadoodle.

Now on to the important news:  CW Upfronts.
Barely affect me at all.  Ha ha.  Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

The "saved-a-poor-pregnant-woman-from-going-into-cardiac-arrest":
-- "Veronica Mars" is coming back!  It was picked up for a full 22 episodes, with an option to trim it to 13 if the ratings continue to suck like they did on UPN, but that kind of an ultimatum isn't a big deal, since we all know they could cut the episode order at any time anyway (can you say, "Arrested Development?"), and this way at least the writers know in advance how many episodes they *may* have to wrap things up in right off the bat, allowing for a contingency plan.  But I'm of course hoping that all won't be necessary, and that "VM"'s new "Gilmore Girls" lead-in (yay!) and, well, not being on UPN anymore might finally give her the ratings she deserves.  And moM and daD finally get to watch "VM" episodes live without having to wait for us to get them DVDs of the episodes at odd points throughout the season.  :-)

I swear, with "Arrested Development" already gone, and with the same kind of painful back-and-forth rumors about whether or not the show would be coming back for both it and "VM," it's a REALLY good thing this one went the right way.  I really don't think I could have handled by far the two best shows on television being canceled in the same year.  The pain simply would have been unbearable.  Childbirth?  Bring it on.  Taking away both "AD" and "VM" at the same time?  I don't THINK so!

The good:
-- "Supernatural" is coming back.  I didn't watch every episode, but I did towards the end and it grew on me a bit, despite not really being my kind of show.  It would have been a real shame if we never got to see the resolution of the season-ending cliffhanger.  Besides, now that Denny's gone on "GA," I have to get my Jeffrey Dean Morgan fix somewhere (let's face it, the man is beautiful).

The bad:
-- Poor, poor "Everwood."  We knew there was a good chance it wouldn't make the CW's roster, but it's sad nonetheless.  At least it had five good seasons, and they knew ahead of time, so they filmed an ending fitting to a series as well as just a season.  I'll still miss it, though;  it was one of the last remaining real family dramas on television, not to mention an actual good  one.
-- "7th Heaven" is the show that won't die.  Seriously, it's almost freaky.  The show had a (from what I hear, even way awfuler than usual) series  finale, only to magically be renewed a few days later.  Ugh.  Apologies to anyone out there who might like the show, but, UGH!  If this show's 12:05 reprieve ended up being the nail in "Everwood"'s coffin, kindly gag me with a pitchfork.

FOX Upfronts.
Of course, the only really important thing they did was ax "Arrested Development."  We've known that forever, so, fine (well, not really fine, but over and done with).  The only other things that affect me are minor, like moving "Bones" to Fridays for part of the year -- which better not kill it, thank you very much -- and "Prison Break" coming back in August to get in a pre-baseball run.  I certainly won't complain about not having to wait as long as usual for that cliffhanger to be resolved.
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Wednesday, May 17, 2006
CBS Upfronts.
Barely affect me at all.  The end.

What does affect me.
Levar Burton Prins getting kicky.  Or doing something I can finally feel, at least.  I never definitively felt any of the more subtle, "fluttery" baby movements many mothers feel first, probably just because I didn't know for sure what they were.  And I still wasn't completely  convinced that these were actual baby movements either until Josh felt one of them as well.
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Jeopardy update.
Mike made it to the second round of the Tournament of Champions via one of the high-scorer wild card slots, and his next episode airs tomorrow, Wednesday.  He has to actually win to go on this time, so this will likely be his last showing.  Go ahead, Mike, make me eat my words!

ABC Upfronts.
The good:
-- Um... oh, they picked up the Rob Burnett/Jon Beckerman (a.k.a. the "Ed"creators/writers) single-camera comedy, so that's yay.

The bad:
-- They canceled "Invasion."  And poo on that.  At least now that I know I'll be sure to appreciate the final episodes I've been racking up on the DVR to watch all at once.  I'll honestly miss this one.

The "I'm really not sure how I feel about this":
-- "What About Brian" was renewed, and... well, I'm really not sure how I feel about this.  We watched all, like, five episodes of this show, and it simultaneously annoyed me and showed potential, so, I don't know.
-- "Commander in Chief" is gone.  I watched.  I enjoyed.  But it also felt like a chore at times for some reason.  Plus, Geena Davis just bugs.  And I'm going to need to trim the number of shows I watch this fall anyway, for obvious reasons.  So.  No biggie.

On the subject of ABC, I watched all three hours of the "Grey's Anatomy" season finale this afternoon, and, dang, did it do a number on me.  The intensity of the first two hours especially was draining (in a good way), and the end had me sobbing uncontrollably (seriously, I was such a wreck I was so glad no one was there to witness it, even Josh).  I realize I'm pregnant and all, but I defy anyone who's watched most of this season and has any heart to be unaffected by those final scenes -- and I'm not talking about the unnecessary-albeit-unsurprising Derek/Meredith stuff.  It wrecked me and I now hate the people responsible.
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Monday, May 15, 2006
It's Upfronts week.  Deal.
Up first:  NBC.

The good:
-- "Scrubs" is, again, supposedly coming back at midseason.  I don't mind that, honestly.  Coming back is coming back, even with a half-season wait.
-- Several of their new series sound promising ("Heroes," "Andy Barker, P.I.," "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip") and/or include actors I dig (Tony Hale, Jeffrey Tambor, Greg Grunberg, Kyle Chandler, Andy Richter, to name a few).

The bad(-ish):
-- "Surface" is gone, which I watched and somewhat enjoyed, though I can't say I'll miss it terribly.
-- "Heist" has also bitten the dust, which we sort of knew already but not quite officially.  It was just starting to get good when they pulled it from the schedule, and on a nasty cliffhanger, no less, that will now no doubt remain forever... hanging.  Pity.

Hopefully that was mercifully short enough.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
God hates our anniversary.
Exhibit A:  Snow?  No, seriously... SNOW?????  In mid-May?  You have got to be kidding me.

Exhibit B:  We're both sick.  Josh is in the later stages of a bad cold that I caught from him and am now myself in the early stages of, which includes a very sore and swollen throat (which incidentally makes me feel gaggy, which makes me feel barfy, like I need that any more right now).  Booger.  Booger, booger, booger.  (Oh, wait, those are likely to come later.  :-P)
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Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Pregnancy nutrition.

-- One Little Debbie chocolate cupcake has a whole 8% of your daily value of iron.

-- There is such a thing as WHOLE WHITE bread.

-- Green beans have surprisingly little nutritional value.  Really, why bother?

-- A single fruit roll-up has a whopping 25% DV of Vitamin C.

-- Two things high in protein?  Meat.  And cheese.  Can you say "meat-lover's pizza?"

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Friday, May 05, 2006
Televiscellany.
Mike the "Jeopardy" Champion is coming back!  That's right, he did well enough with his three-day, $60K winnings to make it to the Tournament of Champions, which starts airing on Monday.  He's not entirely sure which day of the first week he'll be on... his best guess is Thursday (because his was the fourth show taped), but it could be any of them.  Watch if you like.  (I'll again provide updates on whether he goes on to subsequent rounds.)

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Discovery Channel's "MythBusters" is the awesomest awesome that ever awesomed.  Ridiculously entertaining and educational at the same time -- find a way to see it sometime, whether you have cable or not.

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"Lost" shocked me Wednesday night.  SHOCKED.  Stunned.  Dumbfounded.  It's not often that any show can manage to do that to me anymore, but this one did.  There's no way anyone who wasn't spoiled could have possibly seen that coming.

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The season finale of "Veronica Mars" is next Tuesday, and I am not asking any of you to watch it.  (No, you really must start with the DVDs.  :-P)  What I just wanted to say is that if the CW doesn't renew this series for next fall, I will throw a fit the likes of which has never been seen on this blog or elsewhere.  Not when "seaQuest" was canceled.  Or when "Ed" was canceled.  Or even when "Arrested Development" was canceled.  No, you will hear my screams of anguish from every continent.  There will be bloodshed.  Lives ruined.  And really, who wants that?
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Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Wow, am I sorry.
What do you do when faced with a weekend of nothing but rain and wind?  Why, of course, you go to a neighboring town's village-wide garage sale and an outdoor outlet mall.  At the garage sales, we managed to find a few onesies that would work for either a boy or a girl, a nice blanket, and a couple of books, including one Little Golden Book I recognized from my childhood that looked brand new.

But where we really hit the jackpot as far as baby clothes was the outlet mall.  We found several sleepers for between $2 and $6, plus a few other things.  It seems that while we were too late to find much winter clearance in regular stores, we found the perfect time to get cheap winter stuff at outlet stores.  And the most surprising thing was that the cheapest things we found were at the Carter's and The Children's Place stores, two brands I don't really associate with "cheap."  We'll definitely find our way back there if we find out the baby's gender, which would increase our selection by about ten times.  We're sort of splitting our purchases between the 0-3 and 3-6 month sizes, because I hear that's what you're supposed to do, though we will get a few things in newborn size just in case our baby's on the small side or we need some snugger-fitting sleeping clothes.

I also surprisingly found several good deals at a maternity outlet store -- the trick is to go to the clearance/"as is" racks and just be sure to try on and carefully inspect everything before buying it (since you can't return or exchange it).  And with clothes I'll only be wearing for a few months, even if something does have a minor imperfection, it hardly matters.  My maternity collection now includes a pair of jeans, khakis that fit me now, khakis that will fit me later, one pair of shorts, one of capri pants, three skirts (only one of which is actually maternity, the others are slightly-larger-than-my-normal-size elastic-waist skirts), a few long-sleeve tops, a few sleeveless tops, and one short-sleeved.  I haven't needed any of the tops yet, but have started to need some of the bottoms.

Holy cow.  That might be the most boring entry I've ever written.  But it was this or "Veronica Mars."  This is my life right now.
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