Constant Achy Grumpiness

"Constant Achy Grumpiness" is the state of Anne's pregnancy (not Anne, she is taking it really well). We were really excited thinking the baby might come last night. Then today. Well, it can't take too much longer.
I think I am doing the male equivalent of nesting. I feel really anxious and really energetic. I got a sunburn from working outside.

We got a keyboard. I have been looking around for ages and finally found one for really cheap that has a million cool features and 88 keys. Craigslist rocks, by the way. I got this keyboard on it and I have been looking at cars on it for a while.

Joel and I are in the basement working on stuff. He loves working with my tools. He is assembling something with drywall screws, a hammer, and blocky sheets of foam.
Brady: Cheap foam (like the kind used in mattresses) allows Joel to use real tools without me worrying about what he is doing. There is a toy to be made in this somewhere.

The next post will likely be with pictures of a new baby. Oh, we are so excited!

Update

Things are good. The baby is almost here!
Joel is ridiculously cute. He is crazy about the baby. He talks to Anne's belly button with sentences like: "Hello baby, come out and play with me." We love it.
I think we are almost ready for this kid too. There is a lot of work to do, but it is not emergency stuff (like it was last time).

Dissertation work is great. I got a huge draft rewrite/revision to my adviser a little while ago and got back all the comments. It looks like my reinterpretation (which was a heck of a lot of work) went over well. On a personal level, I like it quite a bit and believe in it to be really true. Previous versions left my mind a bit unsettled--that has been filled in with a sense of experience and positivity.

Work is great. I actually kind of like what I am doing now. The old project that I driving to Detroit for is almost completely done (one project keeps rearing its head, but it will be done very soon). The work I have moved onto is a lot more fun. I wish I had some time to work on it though.

Random stuff:
-Anne got Weird Al tickets (at the Toledo Zoo) for my birthday. This is taken as further evidence that I married well.
-Joel learned about accordions today (related to the point above).
-I had a great time seeing Casey and the gang from down south. You guys are a lot of fun and really wonderful to share ideas with. You have a great groove going down there.
-We are up to about 4 dozen eggs a week from a local agriculture instructor who keeps about 60 hens. I love these eggs.
-I have been hunting for a newer car on craigslist. I keep going back and forth about it because my car is stinky, bad with oil, and makes me wonder how long it could sustain this sort of life....but on the other hand, it is absolutely reliable and I understand it well. I am waiting for something really great to pop up on there (and I will get that low-mileage 1991 4WD Civic Station wagon as soon as it does!).

Here are some pictures:

Joel, tired after a big robot-building session.


He is still drumming a lot. This is his "Swiss Top Secret Drum Corp" hat.


Joel looks like he is ready for spring (he is ready for it, by the way).





Joel took these pictures when he unsupervised-ly got his hands on the camera (he took 27 pictures of randomness/himself being curious as well as 18 interesting short videos). He looks so darn curious. I love it.