I referred to our brilliant Friday tradition before, though briefly, of no headphones Friday. It's a beautiful beautiful thing. I may have the coolest boss ever. . . I'm just saying.
Dainon says it better than I would, so please refer to his post on the matter. . .
So, we got the Walmart stuff in the mail, and it wasn't quite what we had in mind. It was great, but the colors were. . . not right. Let's just say that the green was more olive than anything, and the plan was sort of to paint the walls the green in the bedding. It really wasn't right. . .
So, despite the higher price tag, we ordered a new set. I have been drooling over it for months, and it was the one set I kept coming back to. It's Dwell baby (robin motif), which is modern and awesome in general. And surprisingly less expensive than some of the higher end stuff like it. Also, we got it on a great sale. Woo hoo!
So, ladies and gentlemen. . . . This is our new bedding:
Let the decorating begin!
When Ragtime is over next week I will have the one thing I've been waiting for the past 2 months. TIME. With a little bundle of joy coming home with us in about 4 months, there is much to do.
The following is a list of my goals for the next 4 months:
1) Clean the house. Ok, I'll have ot do this more than once, but right now, it looks like a bomb went off, and that MUST stop.
2) Help the yard. we have been neglecting the backyard in a really sad way the past 2 months, and it shows. It looks bad. We need to get out there and do some serious work.
3) Decide what to do with the nursery, and DO IT. I can't decide what to do with paint colors or decor. . . we need to make a choice on that. And pick up the crib. And move furniture around. . . etc. . .
4) Finish the quilt for our bed and send it in to get quilted. Also, finish the other quilt I started 2 years ago. (stupid diamonds!!)
5) Make a header for this blog. I am done with the crappy one that's up there.
And yes, this is just the beginning of the list. I honestly think that getting ready for the baby alone could probably take up about 2 months. I better get on this stuff. After I take a nap.
For the first time since the Oscars, this weekend, we went to a movie.
Is it an insane thought to anyone that knows me that I waited 5 months between trips to the movies? Oh yes. But we have to remember 3 things:
1) I've been pregnant. Which equals sick and/or tired, depending on the day.
2) We've been working on a play for 2+ months, so time has been hard to come by.
3) There was nothing in theaters I had any desire to overcome #1 or #2 to get out and see.
This weekend we went to see Ocean's 13.
True, Ocean's 12 was awful. Truly awful. But Ocean's 11 is one of the best heist movies ever made, and i had it on good authority that this one was much more like the first than the second. And it was. Overall, a really good movie. It won't go into my favorite movies list, but it was totally watchable and even entertaining. Not a waste of time at all.
Hoorah!
Over the weekend Ben & I were discussing how we may like new music a lot, but there are a lot of moments during which we feel a strange longing for the mix tapes of yesteryear. On our drive up to Ogden last weekend we listened to a CD only about 2 years old, but it was so fun to hear songs we hadn't heard in a while.
And, as a salute to that, I feel it is now high time I remake the mix tapes my girl friends & I made in high school. We were pretty serious about putting together just the right combination of tunes at that point in our lives, and making awesome collage covers.
Some of our favorite mix artists:
James Taylor
Toad the Wet Sprocket
Dave Matthews Band
REM
U2
They Might Be Giants
There were, of course, others, but those stand out. WHY don't I listen to this stuff all the time any more?
It's time to make some CDs and relive my youth :)
A blissful thing happened yesterday. I had a day off from Ragtime. And just in time. After Tuesday's show I was very very close to a nervous breakdown.
What did I do with my time off, you ask? Well, we needed a few things from the store, so I stopped on the way home. I am SO glad I did. My favorite summer treat is finally in season. The white peach. Honestly, they are totally different than traditional peaches. If I could plant a tree of them in my back yard, I would. . . I just might. . .
I can't even tell you how much I love these things, and pregnancy must be making me crave them more. I ate 2 last night and one for breakfast this morning. MMMM.
And on a totally different note.
Yesterday I listened to a few new tracks by Crowded House. I had them on a cycle all afternoon, despite the fact that there are only 4 of them. And today. . . yes, call me a big fat nerd, I've been doing the same thing with the new Mandy Moore album.
I'm not sure why it is, but I have had the tendency lately to just let music play in the background of my mind while I work. I am feeling the itch to stop it, though. I like the Maroon 5 album that's been on a loop in my car for a week and a half, but it's time to trade it in for a good summer mix. Anyone have any good ideas for tracks?
Ben hates to celebrate his birthday. Has for as long as I've known him. I have never really known why. Mostly I ignore his distaste and try to make him celebrate anyway. This year, I have no choice. Today is Ben's birthday, but it's also Wednesday. That means Ben has class tonight. And not just class, but his final for his Spring class. He claims this is the best birthday ever, but it sort of depresses me.
And so, in his honor (and because he seldom looks at this blog anyway and therefore won't get mad) a few of the things I love about Ben:
His love of animals 
He'll be a wonderful daddy. He's great with kids. . . 
But he smiled on our wedding day anywayThe plan was all set. . . My mom was going to help me make bedding for the baby's room. Between us it didn't seem like it would be a huge challenge. And I found some awesome fabric in the colors I liked.
This being a boy baby, I really like the idea of a chocolate brown, light green and light yellow room. They are the colors of the diaper bag Ben got me for mother's day, and I love the combination. And it had to work with the dark stain on the furniture we got.
I looked everywhere for bedding I liked to buy. Simple, modern, not cutesy bedding. Who knew it would be so hard to find for less than $500? Ridiculous!
Until I happened upon this set:
And here's the freaky part. It's only $90 for the whole set. Yes, it's from Walmart, and we don't like supporting the great satan. However, having a baby is expensive! I might just cave. If the quality is awful, I'll send it back and go back to plan A of making everything.
But if this works out. . . that would be an awfully big project that wouldn't have to be started. . . And I'm all for that.
Well. . . we survived opening Ragtime. Honestly, I'm not sure the audience had the slightest clue that all of the last minute stuff was happening the way it did.
Friday night we had almost all of our costumes there. There were a few scary points, like the "dresses" the dancer girls were given. They were beyond revealing, & the solution provided on Saturday didn't do a ton to make the girls feel better, but I'm getting the feeling there's not a lot we can do about it.
I called light cues for the first time on Saturday night, which was frightening. I have never ever had to call cues, especially that many follow spot cues, for the first time AFTER a show was open. Hopefully it didn't look too ridiculous.
All in all, the cast was brilliant at adapting and making things work, and I am THRILLED that the show is open. Only 10 more performances until we're done!!
We had the ultrasound today and, much to our surprise, it's a boy!
We are totally shocked, honestly. Almost everyone guessed we were having a girl. . .
Now begins the search for a name. We had a girl name picked, but no boy name. Now it's time to go digging through the family history to find one that strikes us.
Wish us luck!
Sunday was a pretty big day for our family. Aubrey was blessed, we had a big family gathering to celebrate, and later that afternoon my dad was set apart as Stake Patriarch. I still contend that he seems awfully young for a job like that. . . but who am I to say? After all of that, I took photos for Jeremy & Emily to use in their wedding announcements. Thanks to Nick's fancy new camera, they turned out great.
Here are some highlights of the day:
The Hackett Family right before the blessing
Mom & baby Aubrey in her gorgeous dress
4 generations of ladies
The fam 
Ethan
Carter
Tanner
Aubrey in the cute striped onesie I got her. 
With rehearsals Friday night, Saturday morning, and again Saturday night, it felt like we never left the shell. The show is starting to look better, especially now that we've run it all the way through twice. Unfortunately there are a couple of major pieces of the puzzle (finished tracks and costumes) that are still alarmingly far behind. Hopefully it won't be much longer. . .
Here are a few highlights, courtesy of Nick:
The whole huge cast in the opening number
"New Rochelle" in the opening, fancy parasols and all
Nate & Trevor I am going to catch up on the weekend's goings on. . . as I have a ton of awesome pictures. But first, the good news.
We had a doctor's appointment this morning and scheduled our ultrasound. By about 11 am this very Friday we should know if we're having a boy or a girl!!! Woo Hoo!
One thing we know for sure, based on this morning's appointment, this is an active baby. He/she was running away from the doppler machine every time we tried to listen to the heart beat. Hopefully that's a good sign that we'll be able to see all the right parts on Friday.
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