A Splurge

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Have you ever been shopping with me? If so you’ll know first hand that I am not an impulse shopper. I will pick up a shirt and carry it with me for 25 minutes only to put it back as I leave the store. Buying a pack of gum often requires a pro/con list. I just hate to part with my hard earned/hard saved money.

So it should be no surprise to anyone that it took me three visits to Stride Rite to convince me to purchase these:

ppp|Turtle Shoes

Turtle Shoes

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I fell in love with them as soon as I saw them. So turtley! So cute! So different from any other baby shoes I’d ever seen! But I put off buying them. Of course I did.

A couple of weeks ago I stopped back in and looked at them again. I wasn’t intending to buy them, so when I flipped them over and saw that they were on sale I barely noticed. But later that weekend I was kicking myself for not getting them. Mall stores are notorious for putting things on sale and then discontinuing them, never to been seen again. I was afraid that these cute shoes would disappear!

Today I bit the bullet and went and bought them. I can’t get the thought of BabyWood’s little turtle feet off my mind! There are a couple other pics here; scroll down.

Gas, two years later

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Just about two years ago, I [lamented](http://prwdot.org/2004/05/19/gastronomical/) the fact that gas was $2.02 per gallon. Now the cheapest gas I can find is $2.95 per gallon. Luckily, I’m still spending about the same amount on gasoline, since I now drive a more [fuel-efficient car](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/etcetera/2001_toyota_corolla/).

Boston the Photogenic

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As I [mentioned](http://prwdot.org/2006/05/06/sahm/), today was Becky’s last day of work. Hooray! I drove her in to the city, then took off on my own for a day of photographing Boston.

I ended up with [one hundred and forty-four keepers](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/) for the day. You can look at [all of them](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/) if you want to, but I’ll highlight some of my favorites below.

* [Closed-gate view of the State House](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080847.JPG.html)
* [Sleeping on a bench in the Common](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080852.JPG.html)
* [Lemonade cart worker in the break room](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080853.JPG.html)
* [Plethora of Port-a-Potties](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080866.JPG.html)
* [Sidewalk Sam](http://www.sidewalksam.com/about_swsstory.htm) [supervises the painting of a shark at an entrance to the Common](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080872.JPG.html)
* [A nap on the grass](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080881.JPG.html)
* [Many beautifully colored flora](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080901.JPG.html)
* [Can you take a photo of us?](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080903.JPG.html)
* [Hail to the flag](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080917.JPG.html)
* [The proposed location for the Back Bay Apple Store](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080922.JPG.html), currently facing [objections](http://www.ifoapplestore.com/2006/03/09/apple-outlines-boston-store-plans-to-commissioners/) from the Back Bay Architectural Association. Right across from the Prudential Center, it would be an excellent location.
* If that one doesn’t pan out, [there are rumors](http://www.ifoapplestore.com/2006/04/30/iconic-space-available-in-boston/) that Apple could take over the space being vacated by the Virgin Megastore, which I [also photographed today](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080941.JPG.html).
* I walked across the Mass Ave bridge, against the flow of [walkers from the Walk For Hunger](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080946.JPG.html).
* The skyscrapers of the Back Bay were looking [particularly photogenic](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080952.JPG.html) from across the Charles River.
* I love [this photo of a sailboat and the John Hancock building](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080960.JPG.html).
* More [sailbots up on the dock](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080966.JPG.html).
* [A pair of differing dories](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080973.JPG.html).
* [Memorial Drive sweeps around the bend, with the Back Bay in the distance](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080982.JPG.html).
* The new Charles/MGH T stop is starting to [take shape](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080992.JPG.html).
* [Samuel Adams](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1090008.JPG.html) – patriot, statesman, governor… [brewer](http://www.samueladams.com/)?. Do you prefer him with the [brick red background](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1090009.JPG.html), or the [sky blue background](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1090011.JPG.html)?

And the day wouldn’t be complete without a shot of [Becky at the reception desk at her last day of work](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2006/boston_may_7/P1080999.JPG.html).

I hope you enjoy looking at these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them!

SAHM

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Tomorrow is Becky’s last official day of work at the [Otis House](http://www.historicnewengland.org/visit/homes/otis.htm), which also makes it her last day of work outside of the home, at least for the forseeable future. Our plan is for Becky to stay home and be the mom she wants to be, and for me to continue working at [CBD](http://www.christianbook.com/) and be the best dad I can be. We’re both very excited about this, because it’s something we’ve been planning for a while, and it’s what Becky has wanted to do for the longest time. We both know there will be challenges, but I know that we will overcome them, with the help of God, each other, our family and friends. Thanks to everyone out there who has been in touch with us in the past few months. We are looking forward to sharing our joy with you!

Sunny Inside Saturday

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It’s a sunny, warm Saturday, so we’re spending it outside, right? Not today.

Today, we spent some time organizing and decluttering in the apartment. Since our ‘office’ has been converted to a nursery, there is a lot of stuff that has made its way out into our living room, and some other stuff that still needs to be taken out of the nursery. There is also a lot of extra junk in our apartment in general, and we’ve been in the process of getting rid of it for the past few months. Today we got rid of some extra books by donating them to the library. I cleaned out the drawers in my computer desk. I also fixed the drawer underneath our crib so that it slides in and out nicely, and Becky put away some more baby gear in said drawer.

One glaring issue with the furniture that we moved into our living room was that the “Manager’s Chair” I used for my computer desk was much too bulky for the tight walkway the computer desk is now located in. So today we went to [IKEA](http://www.ikea.com/) and bought a [STEFANO](http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15600&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=48222&langId=-1&parentCats=15600*15877*15879) swivel chair. It’s much less cushy than the big leather manager’s chair, but it is still quite comfortable, and most importantly it can easily slide under the desk to allow easy access past the desk:

ppp|With the big chair

With the big chair

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ppp|With the little chair

With the little chair

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Much nicer, eh? It was even worse when I was actually sitting in the big chair… Becky could barely get past! By the way, here’s what my computer desk layout looks like now:

ppp|Computer Desk Layout|ppp

It’s a bit crowded, but still very usable, and, most importantly, ergonomically correct.

Site5 Frustrations

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I’m glad that Becky has been blogging quite a bit recently, because even though there are a lot of things I have to blog about, I haven’t been able to get any of them worked into an actual post. So here’s an attempt at covering just one of those things: some of my frustrations with [Site5](http://www.site5.com/?affiliateid=9), the web hosting provider for prwdot.org.

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Nesting

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Hi folks! Welcome to my second day as a “stay at home mom” 🙂

This past weekend we made some huge strides getting ready for BabyWood. My parents came over and we did a ton of cleaning and organizing and moving of furniture. Our office/sewing room has sucessfully been transformed into a nursery/guest room; and our living room is now much more of a multi-purpose room than it ever has been before!

ppp|Proud Papa to Be

Peter and the Crib

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That is not to say, however, that we’re done. There is still a TON of stuff that has yet to find a permanent home. And my energy level fluctuates…so getting stuff done comes in waves.

More pics from the day can be found here.

On the Today Show today they had a segment on gDiapers. Peter and I have been considering these since we heard about them several months ago. It is interesting to see that they have made the mainstream media! The basic premise is that instead of washing soiled cloth diapers or tossing disposables you remove a flushable liner and flush it away. That sounds better to me than sending plastic to sit in a dump for the next 500 years!

The consensus on the Today segment (with two test families) was that the idea was good, but they were more bothersome to use. Now, I’ve changed a ton of diapers in my day, though none of them were on my own kids. I don’t want to make naive statements before our own kiddo comes home, but I think that a little bother with a diaper change may be worth saving the Earth… we’ll see.

Another Picture

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I found a pic of Papa and I that I must have scanned a while ago. Enjoy.

ppp|Papa and Becky

Papa and Becky

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Ps. In case anyone was wondering… Papa is my Mom’s Dad.