Amy Update, With Notes

The latest news report is that Amy's doing great. She is definitely getting bigger. Not huge yet, but bigger to the point where she's beginning to wonder how the kid will still tack on another 6 pounds. I think she looks beautiful, settling right into that cute-mama she always had in her. Sexy, maternal and bountiful (like the Chiquita banana lady). These days her biggest complaints usually involve stretched-belly discomfort and the roundhouse-kicks coming from inside (usually to the bladder). I'm dumbfounded. Backrubs continue.

Parental stressors are revving up about our (weak) organization, prepping the baby's room (when everything is on back-order) and finding the right daycare (did you know that city day-cares require between $75-150 just to be on their waiting lists? Meaning that if you sign up for three, and they all rejected you, you're out $400 and still have no daycare!)

To help hash-out the stressors (and fight in public where its more fun) we've been going for walks in the evening around the west loop hood and have a couple nice (read: safe) routes. The weather's been nicer and daylight hours longer, so our moderate walks and the fresh air are perfect for Amy's increased energy. I came home from work the other day and not only was she a whirlwind of scrapbooking activity, but she also started barking out orders. I knew right then that she must be feeling pretty good.

I had prepped and put the house up on the market for sale in February, but as of today I have taken it back down. We thought there was a chance we could sell quickly and move somewhere closer to Amy's work (her commute is terrible). But now, we don't want to be bothered with showing (cleaning), selling and closing on a home in the run-up to baby-time, so we're just gonna sit this one out. We have plenty of space and a couple of customization jobs will get our loft in baby-shape, no problem. As far as the commute, well, we're taking a wait and see approach and eye-balling the Spring 2008 market for the loft (when we would avoid paying capital gains anyway).

The Notes on me is that work is busy. Despite what you might be reading in the papers, people are still buying homes. Now is certainly the busy season, so I'm trying to go ape-shit while the getting's good. In the meantime, although I rarely leave the house, I did just draft my fantasy baseball team for one league and draft another in Cordova this weekend. That's six months of fun right there ladies! Looking forward to dominating throughout.

Speaking of domination, I ran the 8K Shamrock Shuffle this past Sunday. Good friend Ben also ran and we wagered a steak dinner at Ditka's for the winner and his wife. We tied. I know... that's kinda bullshit, but believe me, the race was hard fought and the final kick was pure hell. I have never ran that hard in my life. In that final kick I hit a new level of bodily pain (lungs...legs...burning until there is absolutely nothing left) that it felt transcendent. It sucked so bad, it felt good.

Two days later my left knee hurts, but I'm eye-balling the next distance event, so I can parlay my training into another and perhaps longer (Soldier Field 10 miler) distance event.

And as a final note, my NCAA brackets are (once again) utter crap, but a lot of good music has been released this Spring. Double kudos go to Arcade Fire's 'Neon Bible', Kaiser Chiefs 'Yours Truly, Angry Mob' and The Shins 'Wincing Away The Weekend'. I'm looking forward to Lollapalooza. And yes, I've already gotten the Boss' okay.