The Delta House

My wife's baby shower was this past weekend, and I am truly in awe of the quantity and quality of the gifts that she received. But before I get to that, I need to touch on the billies and the nursery. They arrived on Friday afternoon, and I got them all checked into the hotel. Saturday morning, they all went down to the church hall and helped her girlfiends decorate the place in Tuscan style. My wife was greatly surprised by the shower and was shocked to see all of her relatives there. She was even more shocked to find out that they had been in on the planning and financing of the shower for several weeks prior to Saturday. They all stayed at our house on Saturday night where we had Swedish sausage and lingonberry jelly, a family recipe and tradition. I made the big ass breakfast on Sunday morning, and all but two left for home. The two that remained are non-billies from PA. They took her out yesterday and bought nearly every remaining item on our registry, including the $500 changing table. Overall, a great weekend with the family.

Now for the nursery. I nearly finished it this weekend, but I had some material and equipment problems. First, I bought three sections of baseboard, but only two of them were the same. I found that out when I miter cut a second board and went to nail it into place, only to realize that it didn't match. Second problem was the crown molding. It was too large for my miter box, so now I need to get a new one. I should finish it this weekend, but here is a progress pic. This room used to have pecan-stained paneling, and old single-paned wood-framed windows. Two weeks ago, it was all bare studs.

Now for the gifts. It took my wife and hour and half to open all of them, and when the dust settled, the registry was nearly bare. All of the furniture, travel accessories, playsets and every other "big ticket" item were given to us. We have enough clothes to last three months before needing to do any laundry. The picture at the right shows just what we could fit in the armoire (yes the drawers are full). The one on the left shows what we are yet to unpack. Also not pictured are the crib, changing table and car seat. I am confident that many rainforests were destroyed in the wrapping of the all these gifts, and we now have enough baby shower gift bags to last us for the next hundred years.

Man, it sure is nice to get back to work where I can get a little rest!