The dark side of shopping, becoming a good housewifey, and why I'm not excellent at yoga

Here are some less-than-earth-shattering happenings around Casa de Smith lately:

• Last weekend we went car-shopping.  Right now Jeromy is driving the 1991 Lexus that we got as a hand-me-down from my grandparents, but its days seem to be numbered; some of the recent repair costs have been almost as much as the value of the car itself.  So we ventured into the world of slimy car salesman to start looking for a replacement.  We've decided that we want something pretty small with really good gas mileage, but that is "fun to drive" for Jeromy, who gave up his bachelor sports car baby right before we got married.  Right now Jeromy's top choice is this:  

Volkswagen Golf GTI

        It may look sort of petite and bashful, but Jeromy was having no problem driving it like he stole it. I mean, when we got on the highway, I was Soccer Mom Arm-ing myself.  But, apparently an even more exciting version of the car is available in Europe and is rumored to be coming to the U.S. this summer, so of course Jeromy wants to wait for that one.  I told him that if we bought an infant car seat before we buy a car, the car will have to accommodate the car seat, and not the other way around.  

•  We have also been going mattress shopping.  After lots of complaining from me about our current mattress--which is about 10 years old--Jeromy agreed that it might be time for a new one.  He's pretty certain that 95% of my discomfort is pregnancy-related, and that I'm still going to get up at 4 a.m. to sleep on the chair in the family room, and he may be right.  But what I say is, when you roll from one side of our bed to the other, you have to get up enough momentum to make it over the hump in the middle, it's time to put that mattress out to pasture.  So far, all I can say is that mattress shopping, like car shopping, involves overly-talkative salespeople and fake prices that you have to harass them into lowering.  At this point, it's looking like the mattress decision will be more difficult that the car decision.  Boo.

• Today I signed up for a 3-day, 10-hour Basic Sewing class.  After taking Home Ec. in 6th grade, I was actually pretty decent with a sewing machine, and had about 525 scrunchies and a nifty "locker caddy" and matching tote bag to prove it.  But 6th grade was a loooooong time ago, and I need a refresher.  I'm hoping to get to the point where I can make some curtains and simple baby stuff without destroying the fabric, machine, or myself.

This whole "cooking" thing is hard...maybe I'll try sewing instead.

• I am trying to get into a routine of doing prenatal yoga regularly.  It's supposed to be really good for pregnancy discomfort, labor stamina, and, according to the lady on my video, "connecting with your baby on a deeper level" (imagine Jeromy snorting in the next room).  The first time I did the video, which was about 5 minutes after finding out I was pregnant, I thought it was ridiculously easy.  When I did it yesterday, I definitely felt the stretches a lot more and even got a little dizzy.  But, I really enjoyed the close-your-eyes-and-empty-your-mind part at the end....until it was interrupted by the sounds of machine gun fire from upstairs.  Which brings me to perhaps the most important piece of news from the Smith household:

• Jeromy recently got the newest version of his favorite video game, and our house sounds like a war-zone.  Awesome.  I mean, if it wasn't for this:

Husband Mesmerizer

         I might have been able to get into the yoga zone enough to do this:

Yeah, right.

***GEMS FROM JEROMY***

"This whole 9 month thing is no good for impatient people.  It's like ordering something and then having it walked across the country to you.  I want it delivered NOW."