Baby: My parents were in town over the weekend to help with my latest rehab project. We had them and my in-laws over for dinner on Saturday night. Between the entree and dessert we dropped the bomb about the baby. They were thrilled as expected. My Dad shed a tear and my Mom wanted to go buy baby things for us right away. It made for a memorable meal.
We talked a lot about baby names after they found out. I have dozens that I like for a little girl and none that I like for a boy. Jen likes Nathan, Oscar and Allen or Alan. She loves both Woody Allen and Alan Alda. I have baggage with so many boy names and don't want to burdan my son with a heavy moniker. I think the girl names in the lead are Sofia (Sophia) and Emily. I had a great Aunt named Emily but everyone called her Milch. It's such a horrible nickname that we think it's funny. My Dad could call her baby Milchie.
Music: 2005 is getting off to a good start as far as music releases go. There are several things that have come out in the last couple of months that I'm really enjoying. [Cake - Pressure Thief, Andrew Bird - And the Mysterious Production of Eggs, Josh Rouse - Nashville] I hope the rest of the year can stay as strong. It's time for the industry to swing back away from Hip Hop and bad R&B and back towards musician inspired pop and rock. Viva la Revolution!
Rehab: Got a lot done on the house over the weekend. My Dad and I removed the cast iron plumbing stack. My Mom pulled up the subfloor and vinyl floor in the downstairs kitchen only to find more vinyl stuck directly to the pine floor. I think that means we'll tile the kitchen. My Dad and Mom both pulled all of the nails out of all the trim so that it can be reused. And we finished gutting the front parlor/living room.
I also got an estimate from my HVAC guy on Friday. It's high but reasonable and I'm asking him to do quite a bit of work. I'm still looking for a rough carpenter to frame out some walls and haven't decided on a plumber or electrician but I am making progress. The new roof should go on this week and take care of the waterfall on the back wall of the house.
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I have always thought that choosing a baby name is challenging for a number of reasons:
(1) Between the mom and dad, there will be a huge number of people you know who embody the negative aspects of various names, i.e., "All the Michelle's I knew were psychos!" or "All the Erics I've known were really immature!" or "All the Nicks I have known were really cool, but kind of losers." So, one parent may say, "How about Daniel?" and the other parent may instantly shoot it down. If you happen to have two parents who seem to have known a lot of jerks (or just don't like people in general), the book of 25,000 baby names can be narrowed down to about 2,000 in a short amount of time.
(2) Even if a name makes it throught the "gauntlet" of the parents' various histories with jerks, the more people you share the proposed name with, the more chance you have of finding someone who really HATES that name. So you can get enough negative response that the parents themselves start to question the name they thought they loved three weeks ago.
(3) Since people have different sensibilities and tastes, what sounds like a cool, retro name to one parent can sound like a name for an old lady to another parent. Or, what sounds like a "distinctive" name to one parent can sound like an invitation to the kid getting beat up in middle school to the other parent.
(4) When you're considering that this kid is going to have to live with this name for the rest of his/her life, it seems really challenging to find an appropriate name worthy of the challenge. Too grandiose and the parents look pretentious. Too simple and the parents look like dullards.
(5) You have to consider what the initials of the first, middle, and last name spell. For instance, you wouldn't want to name your daughter Harriet Olivia Glodeck, or HOG. You don't want to name your son Frank Allen Glodeck or FAG.
(6) You have to consider potential nicknames kids in school are going to give your child. Kids are very imaginative, but don't make it too easy on them. Note: Nothing rhymes with Lisa. Not even pizza.
We had some friends who didn't tell anyone the names of their children before they were born. Their attitude was, "No one ever tells the parents to their face that they hate a name after the child is born and it's on the birth certificate." Very true. Ironically, they named their daughter Solana and their son Suvan. People would have been speechless in response to these names, other than maybe saying, "That's a weird name."
Now you know why kids get named Sunshine, Wednesday, and Moon Unit. It's kind of out of desperation.
Good luck. You have my support with whatever you choose. It's not like I could do better myself!
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