I love receiving packages. It's the best. Especially when you can track them through a Mac widget like Delivery Status. I love how it tells you exactly how many days until your package arrives. It sets proper expectations. I like that. And with UPS or FedEx, the delivery date is rarely wrong. In fact, if the date IS wrong, it's because my package has come early! (BTW, can anyone explain why the USPS tracking system is so useless? It tells you when the package has been registered in the system and when it has been delivered, but nothing in between. It is truly terrible.)
Having a baby is like waiting to receive a package. You know when it's going to arrive because your doctor tells you when it's coming. The anticipation is there - it's just a super duper long wait. You have to be uber patient. Instead of being delivered via FedEx from California, for example, the package is being delivered via foot courier from the moon.
Girl! At least that's what the ultrasound technician said. I guess I'll believe her. It was hard for me tell what I was looking at on the screen. All the images were moving so fast. The tech as like, and here's the head, the brain, the kidneys, the lungs, the heart, the fingers, the toes, the spine, and oooo! You're having a girl! I couldn't tell what I was looking at, but it was like she could read the Matrix...
People ask us if we're happy we're having a girl. We're like, we knew we were having a a girl. They're like, how did you know? We're like, because that's what the Chinese Gender Chart said. Check it out and see if it worked for you and your baby. If it didn't, it's must be because you're not Chinese.
*** BTW, I find it hilarious that the website says, "Rumors have it that this chart is over 90% accurate when used properly but please remember that this chart is for entertainment purposes only." First of all, how is the chart used improperly? I'm imagining someone huddled in his basement and crouching over this chart saying, "Muhahahaha, I will use the Chinese Gender Chart for my sinister and evil purposes!" Second of all, if it is truly over 90% accurate, it's more than "for entertainment purposes only". We need to package this baby up and sell it to the Chinese people! Which brings up another important question: When it says "Chinese Gender Chart", does it mean "Gender Chart for Chinese People," or does it mean "Chinese Version of the Universal Gender Chart"? These differences, while subtle, can easily be lost in translation, but can wreak havoc in the world of gender prediction if not understood and used correctly.
Here is a short video of the ultrasound (you have to click through). The 6 minute version was so boring even I couldn't stand it. So I condensed it down to 1 minute...
Yes, it's true. We are preggers! This was totally and completely unexpected. We're about to hit 15 weeks, and Jocelin is finally getting past the nausea. This is especially good news for me because up until now, I've had to eat all of my meals outside of the house. Otherwise, Jocelin will start yelling at me because of the smells. I either have to: (1) eat my food cold (which I have done plenty of) or (2) heat up my food really fast and run outside, hopefully before she knows what is going on. If she catches me, she'll be like, "WHAT is that SMELL?" and I'll reply, "Uh... Rice? You know, that food that you've eaten EVERY SINGLE DAY OF YOUR LIFE?"
Last September, Jocelin and I had our cholesterol checked at HEB on a whim. To our surprise, our cholesterol was BAD. Not 'bad' compared to superfat people, but 'bad' for young 30-somethings who *thought* they were taking care of themselves. We exercised semi-regularly and ate ok, which we thought was enough to stay healthy and resistant to heart disease. Boy were we wrong. My total cholesterol was 205 and Jocelin's was 196, which are both in the "borderline - high risk" category.
Fast forward one year later to this past weekend, when I got checked again... 170, baby! I was sooo excited. Even the nurse was impressed! While I was waiting, I heard all the nurses repeat the same thing over and over, "well, your cholesterol is a little on the high side, at 218..." and to another person, "... at 222..." and to another, "at 208..." So when I saw that 170 I was pretty pumped. That's 35 points! Here's how I think it happened:
Today, Jocelin and I ate lunch on the UT campus. In a dorm. A dorm cafeteria! What an unexpected treat. We were taking a few of the college kids back home from church, and they were like, you wanna eat at Kinsolving? And I was like, how much is it gonna cost me? And they were like, we'll take care of it! So of course we said, if you insist!
It's been 12.5 years since I've sampled the delectable nutriments of Kinsolving, and while there have been quite a few changes in those 12.5 years, alot is still the same. Let's start with a few differences:
Jocelin and I really enjoyed our first SXSW experience. Riding our bikes around town and hanging out at the different venues listening to unknown bands was fun. We were able to meet up with random friends at different locations, and we even ran into several people we knew on the streets. The only thing I wish was different was that there would've been a better way to search for bands by genre, because Jocelin and I would've liked to hear more Blues/Jazz/Hip Hop instead of all the Rock/Alternative Rock. But whatever. It was all free. What can you expect?
We also went to the house party next door with the two bands from the UK. We went with a few people from the Stone (Phillip, Sharon, Shawn) and it was fun to meet everyone, hang out, and EAT ALL THE FOOD. Chef Lugany cooked up a TON of great BBQ. At first we were kindof nervous going over there, but then it was pretty obvious that no one knew ANYONE, so it was perfectly natural to walk up to someone and be like, who are you? I'm Marcus. Not only did we meet all members of The Cheek and GoldieLocks, but I also met some other interesting characters like (1) Derek, a band manager person who supposedly managed Elton John at one point and (2) Jason, the manager of the gentleman's club down the street called Expose. Here's a funny conversation between me and Jason:
(I WILL post a follow-up to Craigslist blog, I just need to insert this one because it is timely.)
As all of us Austinites know, it's SXSW time. And now that we live closer to downtown, we are much more aware of these kind of things than before. It seems like everything around us is getting involved in SXSW in some way. Our tenant, Jenna, who lives in the garage apartment behind our house, took the whole week off of work so she could attend all the music festivities. One of her friends flew into town to join her. She told me they have been "training" to prepare for this week - sleeping in late, taking naps, and staying up late.
Ok. I know I've neglected this blog for awhile now. My bad. Once you get OUT of the habit of blogging, it's really hard to get back into it. There are just too many other things to do. And since I'm not a very good writer, it usually takes me a long time to craft an entry. But at least I always have lots of ideas! Does that count? I even keep a "blog ideas" text file on my computer. Unfortunately, those ideas rarely turn into real blogs. But from this point forward, I'm going to make an effort to revive this thing and resurrect it from the dead. So to the two of you who are still subscribed to this blog, thank you for your devotion. I AM BACK! (Well, at least for this entry.)
So, today's entry is about: Craigslist. Man, I love me some Craigslist. Craig was one smart dude. It's the local garage sale. Where people will buy the crap you don't want. It's where you can sell ANYTHING. And I mean ANYTHING.
I'm blogging about Craigslist for two reasons:
(1) Today was my biggest day in terms of unique Craigslist transactions. I had 5. All 5 transactions had nothing to do with each other. I bought 2 things and sold 3 things. One person came over to the house, I drove to someone's house, I met two people at the same Exxon gas station down the street, and I met someone at the Slick Willies pool hall.
(2) If you aren't a Craigslister, you need to be. In this crappy economy where everyone could use a little more cash, I'll bet that you can find at least $1000 worth of crap in your house that you could sell. Seriously. As my buddy Ryan Schooler would say, it's a bunch of money just sitting there in your close, attic, or garage. Every 6 months or so I go through a Craigslisting binge where I'll look for stuff to sell and get rid of a few hundred dollars worth of stuff. Trust me on this - instead of throwing stuff away, sell it on Craigslist. People will buy your junk. And we won't discuss whether this income is tax free or not. I'm no CPA.
This final Antarctica blog is filled with short videos for your viewing pleasure. Hopefully they will give you a taste of our experiences. I need to add more text here so the formatting will turn out right, so I will tell you that we received a free Flip Video Camera last year, which is why we are able to take short videos. It is much better than the video function on our camera. We've always wanted a small portable videocamera because there are so many things we see that aren't captured well by photo. Ok. I think that is enough text. On to the videos...
This first video was our first whale sighting. Pretty sweet how they were so close to the ship, huh?
You know how when you go on wildlife excursions, you're not sure if you're going to see what you're supposed to see? We've seen SO much wildlife, it's been amazing: Humpback whales, Minke whales, Gentoo Penguins, Adelie Penguins, Chin-strap penguins, Weddell seals, Leopard seals, Elephant seals, and all types of birds that I couldn't care less about. Here in Antarctica, it's not a matter of IF you will see X, Y, and Z, but WHEN and HOW MANY you will see. That's really cool because my sister and I are both legally blind and we always miss out on what everyone else can see. For example, on our cruise to Alaska in 2007 everyone was on the top deck watching a grizzly bear on land. Everyone was like, look! See it? Can't you see it? It's right there! Awesome! So cool! And my sister and I were like, uh, we can't see nuthin'. Our eyes suck.
Girl! At least that's what the ultrasound technician said. I guess I'll believe her. It was hard for me tell what I was looking at on the screen. All the images were moving so fast. The tech as like, and here's the head, the brain, the kidneys, the lungs, the heart, the fingers, the toes, the spine, and oooo! You're having a girl! I couldn't tell what I was looking at, but it was like she could read the Matrix... 
Today, Jocelin and I ate lunch on the UT campus. In a dorm. A dorm cafeteria! What an unexpected treat. We were taking a few of the college kids back home from church, and they were like, you wanna eat at Kinsolving? And I was like, how much is it gonna cost me? And they were like, we'll take care of it! So of course we said, if you insist! 
Jocelin and I really enjoyed our first SXSW experience. Riding our bikes around town and hanging out at the different venues listening to unknown bands was fun. We were able to meet up with random friends at different locations, and we even ran into several people we knew on the streets. The only thing I wish was different was that there would've been a better way to search for bands by genre, because Jocelin and I would've liked to hear more Blues/Jazz/Hip Hop instead of all the Rock/Alternative Rock. But whatever. It was all free. What can you expect?
This final Antarctica blog is filled with short videos for your viewing pleasure. Hopefully they will give you a taste of our experiences. I need to add more text here so the formatting will turn out right, so I will tell you that we received a free Flip Video Camera last year, which is why we are able to take short videos. It is much better than the video function on our camera. We've always wanted a small portable videocamera because there are so many things we see that aren't captured well by photo. Ok. I think that is enough text. On to the videos... 
You know how when you go on wildlife excursions, you're not sure if you're going to see what you're supposed to see? We've seen SO much wildlife, it's been amazing: Humpback whales, Minke whales, Gentoo Penguins, Adelie Penguins, Chin-strap penguins, Weddell seals, Leopard seals, Elephant seals, and all types of birds that I couldn't care less about. Here in Antarctica, it's not a matter of IF you will see X, Y, and Z, but WHEN and HOW MANY you will see. That's really cool because my sister and I are both legally blind and we always miss out on what everyone else can see. For example, on our cruise to Alaska in 2007 everyone was on the top deck watching a grizzly bear on land. Everyone was like, look! See it? Can't you see it? It's right there! Awesome! So cool! And my sister and I were like, uh, we can't see nuthin'. Our eyes suck.