Another doctor's appointment and everything checked out again. Still progressing, not a whole lot, but still some. But no baby yet. Finally got some donuts for breakfast, thanks to my parents. They gave us a whole bunch of food last night, so we really don't have to cook or make any food for at least a couple days. Started using Miso on iPhone to keep track of what I'm watching, if I remember. It's very much like Foursquare, which I use to keep track of where I've been locationwise. Working out better than Daytum. I actually stopped paying for a Plus account, and had to delete a bunch of data to get my account back down to a free level. Next up is some sort of iPhone program to keep track of what I eat and drink. Went out on the deck today to see how the wireless coverage is up there. It's ok. I was hoping putting the Airport Express to get me internet in the master bedroom would have been enough for the back part of the deck with the couch, but no such luck. I think it's ok, but not consistent. It was also freezing outside. Got to do some chores since Tracy's working the night shift tonight.

About a week to the estimated due date, and at most 2 weeks to an induction. Crazy. Most likely within the next two weeks I'll be a dad. Crazy. Also, scorecard: Baby - 1, Spicy Food - 0. Went to Veerasway on Friday night, Indian food in West Loop. Not bad. Samosa and bacon apps were good, and the passion tart for desert was delish, but the entrees were just ok. Saturday went out and got a Motorola SB6120 SURFboard Cable Modem at Best Buy. I had no idea they were selling electric bikes and mopeds and stuff there now. Also, the Best Buy on Elston has a nice Apple section. Also picked up a cheapie USB card reader and a digital multimeter and tried the power supply hack for the Airport Express. And failed. Powered up but wouldn't stay powered up. So tossed the broken one and moved the only 802.11n Airport Express to the nursery to extend the network and just changed the home audio system to have a single deck speaker set instead of front and back. But now I get internet in the bedroom again, and that Apple TV is useful again. Tried out Wakamono and it might be our new favorite sushi place since it's close, it's good, and Tracy didn't have a large allergic reaction to anything. Sunday went shopping, picking up plants at Knupper Nursery & Landscaping, Home Depot, more home supplies from Target, lunch at Arby's, then back out for a Jewel run after I redid the AV Rack and added in new shelves. Looks nicer now. Also installed the new cable modem, which worked fine without calling, but then later that night there was an outage which I thought was related to not having called in to get the new modem authorized, but in fact was a local outage. Monday was another day working at home, helped a little with the roof gardening with Tracy, then went over to my parents condo for dinner.

Finally started uploading photos from the new camera to Flickr. About time. I tried to just pick the good ones. Oh, and the Flickr integration in iPhoto '09, no good, so I ended up using FlickrExport, and I was pleasantly surprised I got a free license upgrade to the current version. I was actually all ready to pay for it, because it's worth it. A little confusing though, since I have to export to Flickr, and not share to Flickr. So no baby yet. Worked early today like Tracy's schedule, so got to get more gelato from Paciugo Gelato. I'm actually mayor there in Foursquare. Pretty much every week for the past 6 weeks. Staff recognizes us, and we recognize them, and I think the next step is getting to know names. Also, I like this place so much I'm thinking of writing my first iPhone app, so you can keep track of the flavors you've had, tried, your favorites, all that. Had a couple network drop outs the last 2 days. A little worrying. Makes me think of upgrading the cable modem to something a Motorola SB6120 SURFboard Cable Modem. Might as well take advantage of the DOCSIS 3.0 speeds that are available. Also on the lookout for a cheap USB card reader to take apart and use as a voltage regulator on an iPod USB charger to power the broken Airport Express. Maybe I'll make a Micro Center run while Tracy's working on Saturday.

Thinking of implementing a little flag on the website to show when we're headed to the hospital. And/or a a code phrase, like "take the chevy to the levy". But still no action yet. And Apple stock today? Closed at $259. Closer to $300 than not. Crazy. Walked down to get Chipotle for dinner after work tonight. Used the iPhone app to place the order. That was nice and easy, especially since I didn't have to remember Tracy's order. As for the choice between a new computer or an iPad, I'm leaning towards an iPad. But now Tracy won't let me get one before the baby is born because I'd be too distracted by the new toy, instead of the baby. Crazy. Also had my first iPad sighting in public, some guy eating dinner by himself at Melrose Restaurant. Somewhat fitting I guess. Just a little surprising that it's taken this long to see one in public. Only a little because I work from home.

So pseudo officially two weeks left before the due date, which isn't really a hard due date, when in fact a week later is the hard due date. It's all just very inexact. All studies of goo are. Anyway, another doctor's appointment today, and everything checked out fine. Not progressing as much, still still progressing. That's one of the things I never knew, that one could be dilated for weeks. So strange. So not matching up with my long held beliefs. Later appointment today, which meant no breakfast at Au Bon Pain, just picked up lunch from Wow Bao. Good stuff, except for the peanuts in the kung pao, which meant Tracy took a nap after a benadryl. Finally took Russell's advice, and just decided to start using iPhoto for photo management, backups be damned. Of course that now just exposes how slow my machines are, since I've also decided to shoot RAW only. Not good. So now Tracy's giving me the option of an iPad or a new machine. Choices. Tempted to sell more Apple stock since it's doing so well. Seriously. Maybe if it hits $300. Cleaned out the fridge today by eating leftovers for dinner.

So putting in a car seat? Easy. Not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Not sure why I thought it would be hard. Got on my bike for the first time in months today. Rode around to do some errands. Not far, and it was pretty cool out, so had to wear my helmet liner, but nice to get out again. I'll try and get out at least once a week on the bike now. Late nights over the weekend from working. But I'm implementing a stricter bedtime for myself, since I need to start banking my sleep now, since it really could be any day now. Which is really really crazy to think about. Hopefully it won't happen in the next three days, since my parents are in Vegas till Wednesday. Been eating leftovers or food my mom brought for the last couple days. Went out Sunday morning though, wanting to go to Adesso for brunch, but they weren't open at 10:30am according to their website, nor at 11am according to the sign in the window, so we ended up at Melrose Restaurant instead. Dinner ended up at Celtic Knot, and got my Irish Breakfast. All the shopping over the weekend was about supplies. Stocking up. It's kind of like preparing for the apocalypse, 2012, or Y2K. Just a bunch of stuff thinking we won't be leaving for a while. Oh, and still working on Tracy about preordering an iPad. At the Apple Store Northbrook on Saturday, installed the Marvel Comics.app and downloaded a free comic, and well, it was awesome. Seriously awesome. I could see myself spending loads of money when I get one. Can't wait. Also would have come in handy when trying to VPN in to do work in the mall. Still haven't put the new shelves in the AV Rack, and won't until Saturday, since I need a day without scheduled DVR recordings, because it needs so much time to repopulate the guide when it gets unplugged. Also finally disassembled the broken Airport Express and just need a new power source to get it working again.

Doesn't just apply to me, also applies to my company. Burning the midnight oil on some work that needs to be done. Got up early to work thinking I could take off early, since Tracy had the early shift today, and we could go get more gelato. But nope. And then she's working the night shift tomorrow, and I'll probably have a much quieter night. Guess I need to get used to the mismatched schedules. Had a craving for one of those Italian sausage with peppers Piadina like I had at Paganello so many years ago. So sauteed some onions and peppers, and put the sausage on top, and pressed it in a pita. It was good. Looking forward to another tomorrow for lunch. My parents came in and dropped off some food and the AV Rack shelves I accidentally shipped out to their house. Had leftovers for dinner. And now, back to work after a short break. Oh, did some laundry today. Exciting stuff. Maybe tomorrow I can get to installing the car seat. And the caulking/sealing in the shower looks pretty good. At least for now.

Another Doctor's Appointment today, and things are going well. Favorable was the term the doctor used, right before she got paged and had to leave to deliver a baby. Actually, we showed up 15 minutes early for our appointment, but they were nice and said they were running 45 minutes to an hour late, too many babies being born today. So we left and went for breakfast at our usual place, Au Bon Pain and the Allspice Cafe at Northwestern Hospital. Yum. Ate too much that I skipped lunch. Also took an afternoon break for more gelato at Paciugo Gelato. This time I didn't try any samples, and just got a piccolo, and Tracy tried out the Arancia Frizzante and liked it. Probably heading back tomorrow. Stopped by Jewel on the way home from the doctor's, and then Treasure Island after gelato. Got some more rice cakes, one more savory than Apple Cinnamon, and it's absolutely awful. Disappointing. Of course, not sure what I was expecting. Also, I think I'm wearing Tracy down with the constant asking for an iPad. It's like nagging. Kind of.

So I think Tracy's officially full term, 37 weeks. So baby's fully cooked and it's ok if she pops out at any time. Which is kind of scary. But, the nursery is mostly ready. Am I? Are we? Of course not. We're first time parents. Tracy's doing some reading, I did some additional work around the house today, finally recaulking the shower, and while I had it out, added some to the kitchen sink. So I think next up for me is making some benches and planters for the deck. Oh, and the car seat. Put together the Pack N' Play last night, even without an instruction manual. Had some help from Tracy with it though. Too bad they don't make it in colors that match our house. And Apple finally updated their MacBook Pro line today. And there's no Core i3 or i5 in the 13". Which is sort of what I was waiting for. And so my already taken interim step of Snow Leopard and a new battery for my MacBook was a good step. Just have to hope it keeps running until we eventually move and get enough space to get a giant 27" iMac. Who knows how long it'll be before that happens. So maybe I can sneak an iPad in the budget instead of a new computer

So, just about 3 weeks until Tracy's due date. Word. Did a bunch more cleaning and organizing, both as nesting and also because the Russells and Tony and Megan came over for dinner Saturday night. Very nice to have a grown up meal with friends. Also odd because it was a grown up meal with friends, with healthy fare all around, talk of babies, and families, and pot luck and Russell did dishes. And everyone was out by 9:30pm. Felt so very adult. Like playing grown up. Sunday did some work in the bathroom. Stopped Tracy's cold water faucet from leaking. I think it's a cartridge faucet, so can't just take it apart to get to the washer. Just tightened some things up, and no more leaking. Also cleared out the drain in my sink since it was slow. And that's because it was all gunked up with hair and icky stuff. Same thing with the shower drain. Absolutely disgusting. Also started prepping the shower for recaulking. Hopefully it'll look a little nicer. Started exercising again today. Following the official work schedule for break times, a short fifteen minute in the morning and afternoon. I'm gonna be sherpaing lots of stuff when the baby gets here, so I need to build up my strength, and my endurance. Also, went back to Phoebe's Cupcakes over the weekend. Hadn't been there in a while. Still really good, and really sweet. Also tried extending the wireless network into the master bedroom, since moving it to the front of the house has killed reception at the back. Annoying. Need to fix up that extra broken Airport Express to extend the 802.11n network at least back there. Then I could type this up in bed, instead of in the nursery.

Lots of stuff going on today at work, crazy. Didn't even get to work on the other stuff I wanted to work on. But don't think I need to work in the office for a bit, unless needed to. It's nice, but I end up doing other stuff. Also nice to be on the floor and seeing people. Good also to walk to the El and back. Also good to get some reading in again. So Apple announced some stuff about iPhone OS 4.0 yesterday. Bunch of stuff, and the only thing that I might like? The multitasking, specifically Skype in the background. Also maybe the GPS location stuff in the background. Game Center? Eh. iAds? Only as good as the content. Enterprise features? Eh. So I can have 2 Exchange accounts? Who has more than one Exchange account at work? Unless they have multiple jobs. Or I guess administrative assistants. Ok, I can see that. I had to look up the other stuff, cause I wasn't that excited about it. iBooks for iPhone? Expected, not really a surprise. Folders? eh. Doesn't apply to me. Unified inbox? I've got 2, work, and personal, and I like having them separate. Maybe I'll wait until it rolls out to the iPad before getting an iPad. As for the weekend, got a haircut and a dinner party tomorrow, nothing really for Sunday, but Tracy's working, so I'm home bound, probably more cleaning and organizing. I want to find out how to fix a leaking faucet.

It is useful heading in to the office. Easy to get to the post office, see investment analysts, run errands. And nice to have more choices for food, but I'd still rather be working at home. I did look out the window of the Brown Line on the way home, kind of checking out my old bike route home from work. Also, the Apple Store at North and Clybourn has scaffolding all around it. I'm wondering if it's going to be entirely glass enclosed. That would be sweet. I'm sure it'll stand out in some way, and it'll be nice to look at from the El tracks. Finally got a BLT for lunch today. Had a craving, since Tracy had a craving for a week, which she satisfied over the weekend, but I didn't cause you don't take bacon away from a pregnant woman. Picked up Potbelly's on the way home, and we even ate at the dining table today. Been a while, with all the boxes and organization going on, but enough got done to at least clear off the table. Also finally put those little felt circles on the bottoms of all the chairs, so we don't get the loud rubbing sound when they're moved. Back to the office tomorrow, and not planning on picking up kolaches from delightful pastries. I think Tracy and I need a little break, we might have been overdoing it there for a bit.

Went to the Apple Store on Michigan Ave about 10 minutes after they opened this morning, and it was already packed with people checking out the iPad. In one word, I was whelmed. I wasn't begging Tracy to allow me to walk out with one, but I didn't think it was the worst thing ever. A little disappointed they didn't have a bunch more iPad applications, I was curious about the epicurious app. Didn't really have something to show off to Tracy either, that would have been any sort of killer app. I'm sure it'd be a different thing if I had one to use on the couch instead of the MacBook I'm using now. I did test out typing on the landscape keyboard, and found I could do a pretty decent job touch typing. Apostrophe's are difficult though. Still will get one eventually, but no rush. Setup the Mac mini to be headless again, and enjoyed how simple it is using SwitchResX is to get a 1280x800 resolution on it so remote desktopping in on my MacBook looks nice. Also found out you can disable displays with it, so I installed it on the MacBook and finally disabled the phantom display. I'd forgotten how nice it is to have actual boundaries. Have to go into work tomorrow and Friday. Exciting.

Well, taxes are done. Which is nice. Supposedly getting a refund, which seems surprising, mostly just because we've always, well, I've always paid before. I'm guessing that's what home ownership does for you? Just a really nice surprise. Worked late last night to roll out some new changes. Got another doctor's appointment tomorrow. I'm really excited about going to the Apple Store afterwards to check out the iPad in person. Oh, picked up some crumpets at Treasure Island yesterday, which I had for breakfast. No, I didn't have tea with them. They were good, like a thicker english muffin. Ate leftovers for lunch, and made some chicken soup for dinner. Finally started playing with iPhoto '09 and Faces. Simply amazing. It is like magic. Tracy's face is pretty unique, but I was duped with some of my brother, and Tracy's brothers too, which I guess isn't too surprising. But still, it's amazing. And fun.

First off thanks to Russell for helping to move some stuff on Friday. So most of the weekend was spent fixing the nursery. Dropped off cardboard boxes at recycling after assembling the crib on Friday. Saturday breakfast at Nookies Tree, then drove out to the Argaos and dropped off the desk and breakfast table. Had some lunch, stopped by Homegoods and Office Max. More time on the nursery. Sunday made it out to mass for Easter. Shopping at Whole Foods. Setup AV and Networking Equipment in the AV Rack that Rick helped me bring back from the old place. So we're pretty close to having the nursery all set up. Which is good. Oh, and Tracy nixed me putting up the railing, and we're going to see if someone more professional can get it done. I guess the thought of me putting a hole in the nice wood floor pushed her over the edge.

Yup. But it's fairly broad term. My gums were inflamed, and bled a little after brushing. So I got a nice thorough cleaning from Dr. Anthony Lee at Lee Dental Clinic, my new dentist. I like them because they took X-Rays with a tablet computer and a wired sensor. Very cool. But that made my day a little short. Ended up going to all 3 local grocery stores today to pick stuff up. Made pesto for pasta and chicken. Good stuff. Relatively easy, and nice and messy to make. It was a little warm today. Haven't turned on our A/C yet. Had the doors open and windows to create a nice airflow, and I only noticed when closing that the screen door to the juliet balcony was a quarter open. That's awesome. I was wondering how bugs were getting into the house. Getting help from Russell tomorrow to move the desk and stuff down to the in-laws RAV4 we're going to borrow. Then shipping it all out to them on Saturday, possibly making a detour through Indiana to drop off Tracy's documents for work. I've also decided to take a Wii Fit break from work around 2pm for 15 minutes or so. To try it out. Again.