2008 March: Bates

Our lives this month have been spent around the 60 - 70% mark of the gestational progress bar. We are very excited that the baby is coming along well. Tamara is due June 28th. Her sister-in-law just had a baby girl, increasing our baby excitement/anxiety. That is definitely the most notable thing that we are looking forward to.
Both of our dogs are doing fine. The old one is FINALLY starting to tolerate the young'in, but still has a ways to go before we'd use the word "accept." The young one is potty-trained (except for when we leave him home alone for several hours).

As I mentioned last month, I am now the primary pianist. My skills have been steadily progressing (from gut-wrenching 1 month ago to ear-splittingly-tolerable now). I had a major set back this month though. I broke a finger playing basketball. It was my left pinky- which seems like it would be the least used (pinky of the non-dominant hand). This holds true, as far as I've found, in every area but 2: Playing the Piano & Programming.
Anyone who plays the piano will tell you that your left pinky gets used quite a bit (especially in church settings, because you HAVE to play the Bass line, as there are very few people singing it... especially in such a pre-pubescent setting as primary).
Typing is a little more subjective. People vary from 2-finger-hunt-and-peck all the way down to "separate but equal" finger-key-division-of-labor. I myself am an 8 finger (everything but the pinkies) Jazz-Artist typer (♫♪slide the hands to the left ♪♫ & the hands to the right ♫♪ if you hit the right letter it's alright!!! ♪♫). I don't believe in discriminating between fingers and keys. It really doesn't make sense! You cant send Z to the back of the bus: for Pete Sake, he sits right next to A. I also don't believe in Hunt-and-Peck (mainly because I'm afraid by pounding my index fingers repeatedly into keys, I'll end up having those really old arthritic hands... but JUST on my index fingers).
So, when I type, I don't normally use my fingers. HOWEVER, programming is a completely different matter. "Tab" "Shift" "Ctrl" "Alt" and even on occasion "Caps-Lock" (like if I get really ANGRY at my boss or something) are essential. While I don't always hit them with my pinky, there are certain innate-key-behaviors hard-coded into the souls of all programmers. It's like a collectively shared Muscle-Memory. You can't break it... even if you break the finger it needs. So, no matter how cringing each copy-paste is, I still use ol' pinky.

Well, that was a random tangent.
In other news, Tamara and I have been trying to make our yard not look like white trash. At first we thought it would be enough to get rid of all the discarded diapers, beer bottles, cigarrettes, and other random trash. Little did we know the extent of the white-trashiness!
Apparently our house was founded on an ancient civilization of White-Trashers. For our Purposes we will call them clan "Wonder Bread." From 1 inch to 3 feet buried in our soul is evidence of this clan. From discarded bed-sheets to remains of small animals, the trail is fraught with history.
The Wonder Breads had plentiful breeding, as evidenced by the many brimming Huggies and Luvs. They were a merry sort of tribe, clearly seen by the many bottles of used merriment. The most likely had their fair share of battles, because of the shards of discarded bone and many surrendered teeth.

Anywho- despite this fascinating excavation, we are digging up our entire yard to try to get rid of all the trash, kill of the rampant barley, and plant actual grass that doesn't cut bare feet. So here's hoping!

Other than that I have just been working a lot. Overtime at work and multiple side projects makes Rob a dull boy. Luckily Tamara is fun and comes up with fun out-of-the-ordinary things for us to do.
Here's hoping you all do something Fun & Random,
-Rob & Tamara