A Fool of Myself

Yes, Chris and I watched Season 1 Disc 1 of The Big Bang Theory tonight, and I don’t know which I enjoy more: Chris’s out loud belly laughs or the fact that as I laugh at the TV, I’m really laughing at myself. You don’t realize how nerdy you are until you see it personified on TV. Sort of like I never realized how crazy I was about label makers until I saw this quality personified in Monica on Friends, a quality I’m sure Sheldon also appreciates. And we never realized how close Chris is to having clinically-diagnosed OCD until we watched Monk.

Now I’m no quantum physicist, but I have a penchant for the geeky things in life: blogs, extra large vocabularies, flannel plaid pants, whiteboards as decor, and awkward social situations. I’m glad someone out there appreciates these things enough to write a TV show about them!

Oh, so tired tonight. Could not wait to get home, slip on my flannel, and put my feet up. Add to that some milk and chocolate chip cookies–and a Mowgli on my belly–and well, life is pretty good. Who knew growing Mini Austin would take so much out of me?

P. S. I wore my first maternity shirt today. Consensus? I’m cute. But does anyone in their right mind ever tell a pregnant woman she isn’t cute?

Mini Austin is set to arrive in November, and while Chris and I have had a few baby names at the top of our list since, well, since we were dating, we decided to go back to the drawing board when it comes to choosing a Mini Moniker. All week long, we’ve been tossing names on the table with, “That’s interesting,” “I could get behind that,” and “Maybe–if it’s paired with the right middle name.”

After a trip of baby name book browsing on Saturday night, my brain was absolutely reeling: How were we ever going to pick a name? We had a long list of possibilities, but Chris’s name requirements didn’t necessarily match my requirements, and there was just too much information to process with one little iPhone Notes list. Enter the Mini Moniker Matrix.

You can see a mock-up (read: those names are out of left field and are NOT in considerations) in the picture above. The columns?

• Name in contention + meaning
• Meaningful? Yes or no? That is, do we like the meaning of the name? Chris and I both want names that the child can aspire to, so to speak. For example, Christopher Michael means “bearer of Christ” + “who is like God.” Sarah Jo means “princess” + “God is gracious.”
• Original? Yes or no? That is, what is the current popularity of the name in the United States. If the number is > 20, it gets a yes. Why? Well, Chris and I both have very common names, and that drove me crazy growing up. At the same time, we don’t want to choose a name that’s so uncommon or strange or exotic that Mini gets beat up on the playground.
• Rhythm? Yes or no? I like some degree of pentameter to names, and with Austin (two syllables) as a last name, we need an odd-syllabled first name + an even-syllabled middle name. This matrix is for first names, so to get a yes, it must have an odd number of syllables.
• Sentiment? Yes or no? Do Chris or I have any emotional attachment to this name?
• Nicknames? List them. Chris grew up with a number of nicknames at his beck and call, but I did not. We included this column just so we can be informed.
• Ethnicity? List it. Again, this is for our information, though any names with Scottish heritage will not be turned down by Chris.

We put every name on our list in the matrix, measured them, and then broke out the whiteboard. Names with three or four X’s went to the board + a handful of two X’ers (for middle naming). The result? We have three names in strong contention for Mini’s first name and five or six other names that we like for a middle name. Plus we have one combination that we both really like.

What is it? That, and all names that are in contention, will be kept a secret until we announce Mini’s name when he arrives. Certainly, if you have suggestions or guesses, you are welcome to share them. (Great) Grandma Irene thinks she has already named her first great grandson: Christopher Wayne Austin.

Oh my word! When did I get so busy? Oh, yes, when Linden and I decided we were going pro with this whole social media enthusiast thing. I won’t blog about our endeavors too much here–gotta save something for the business blog, when we get that rolling–but I’m really excited for some upcoming events that we’re helping promote.

Next week, I am teaching Twitter for Small Business I and II for the Community Enrichment Center at OTC, and the week after that, I’m teaching Blogging for Small Business.

Next week, Linden and I are attending the Missouri Distance Learning Association conference here in Springfield, and we are helping the administrators “blow up” Twitter by live tweeting the sessions we attend.

And the week after that, Linden and I are attending Online Edge: Internet Marketing Workshop hosted by Brett Curry and Chris Brewer. We are helping promote the event on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and we’ll be live-tweeting the event.

And the week after that, we’re wide open, aside from wrapping up the summer semester. But certainly, if you need someone to “blow up” your event on Twitter (or anywhere else), we are available!

P.S. The greatest thing about all this: Yes, I am so busy, I can barely get my to-do list in order, but I’m having a ton of crazy fun!!

Corujice

Originally uploaded by Planeta Amigurumi

No, I didn’t make him, but it sure makes me want to put him in my pocket and take him home! Sadly, even if I DID want to make him, my embroidery skills would need to improve ten-fold to make him look like an actual owl. No kidding.

That’s what little boys are made of!

My suspicions were correct–the Austin clan will add a little man to the family come Thanksgiving! Yikes! That’s a different way of thinking! Even though Chris and I had our fingers crossed for a girl, we’re really excited about a Little Christopher running around the house. Imagine the Legos and the drawing kits! Now if only Express had a baby/kids clothing line–we’d be set!

Now, I know the next question is what’s the name going to be? Well, we are keeping the name (and no, it has not yet been determined) to ourselves until the Mini Dude’s arrival. We have to keep you on your toes!

And the winner of the free belly rub is: Betsy! Congrats, girl! You can redeem your belly rub anytime between now and Mini Dude’s arrival.

I finished reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog this week, after Linden read it for her reading group. She had talked and talked about it on our runs and posted some excellent quotes from it on Twitter, and I just had to read it.

And. It. Was. Fabulous.

Now if you’re looking for an action packed thriller, this is not the book for you; however, if you’re looking for character development hung on a wooden hanger of plot, you’ve found the right page turner. The personal reflections both of the main characters provide on every page will challenge you to reflect on your own life while you find yourself wishing you lived in Paris and obsessing with Japanese culture. Seriously, the book changed the way I ate sushi. Throw in a few essays about grammar and cats, and well, it’s no wonder why I couldn’t put it down.

Mini Austin is cooking away, and Monday is the day of the big ultrasound! If the kiddo cooperates, we’ll find out whether we should expect a girl or a boy for Thanksgiving dinner.

To be clear, Chris and I are both cheering for a girl, but I have a nagging feeling that it’s gonna be a boy. And mom’s are right 70% of the time.

We want to know what YOU think we’re having. Leave a comment here, post on FB, or send me a tweet with your guess before Monday at noon. If you guess correctly, you’ll be entered in a drawing for the opportunity to rub my belly (a privilege not given to just anyone these days).

A love note from the man you love can make your whole day!

Corn on the cob is absolutely one of my favorite foods in the whole world! Fresh produce makes the sweltering heat and humidity of the summer completely worth it. Just wait till you see the pic of me eating watermelon!