What Wednesday #15: Pregnancy Edition
Today I hang out with my pregnant wife and watch lots of old TV, play some nerdy cards, and eat lots and lots of Bojangles.
What Wednesday is where I talk about what I’m watching, reading, playing, etc, because for some reason I think you’ll find that interesting. If you have recommendations, I’d love to hear them :)
Today is a very special edition of What Wednesday. We just announced yesterday that we’re having a baby! With that now out in the open, I can finally talk about all the weird, I mean, TOTALLY NORMAL changes our household has already gone through.
What We’re Watching: Lost (Netflix)
Katie’s been feeding our little womb weasel a steady diet of classic TV shows. And when I say steady, I mean steady: watching TV helps her take her mind off the nausea she feels, like, all the time (though it’s starting to get better), so when she’s home, Netflix is working overtime. Netflix and try-not-to-throw-up.
She made it through all 10 seasons of Friends in just 3 weeks. I could hear her watching no matter where I was in the house, so that accursed theme song is now the soundtrack of my nightmares. Mercifully, she moved on to Lost, a show with less laugh tracks and more silence. (I think the longest stretch I heard without talking on Friends was 7 seconds. And that was at the end of the whole series!)
I’ve seen Lost. You’ve seen Lost. Everyone’s seen Lost. Including Katie. I don’t need to explain its importance and how it forever shaped the future of TV. What I will say is from the bits I pick up while Katie’s watching, it holds up OK: some of the cinematography and all of the CG is dated; it’s definitely cheesy in spots; but the characters are timeless.
Speaking of characters, let’s address the elephant in the room: the finale. I watched it again to see if it was still as terrible as so many people thought it was. Controversial take alert: I liked it when it aired 6 years(!) ago…and I liked it even better the second go round. Watching the characters reunite was still emotional, and I liked the not exactly subtle connection between them “moving on” along with us as viewers. Who cares if all of the mysteries weren’t revealed, they weren’t the point. Jack and Kate and Sawyer were the point. And they brought it home.
What We’re Playing: Magic: The Gathering
If this kid goes full nerd, this will be the moment it began. For that, you can blame their Uncle Ryan, who got me Magic cards for my birthday this year (as if I’m not already unhealthily obsessed with another digital card game). Since we can just sit and play, it works well for Katie, because movement leads to nausea, nausea leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.
Magic is super complex, with rules that are not easily understood. Even googling questions isn’t that helpful, as they assume you already know the basics. This is literally from their official rulebook: “The easiest way to learn the Magic rules is from a friend who already knows how to play.” Yeah, don’t think I’m gonna find anyone at this point. That ship sailed in middle school. But it’s still fun farting around. And I do love collecting things…
What We’re Eating: muffins, frozen pizza, and Bojangles
Said nausea has also made our food options very specific. When we eat together, most of the time it’s from one of the 3 food groups: chocolate muffins, frozen pizza, and Bojangles. The holy trinity of carbs, if you will. Baby’s apparently a college student. Though, that’s also getting better: over the weekend we ate at one of Charlotte’s favorite restaurants, Kid Cashew. Mediterranean, shared plates, gelato. I’m a fan. Of course, it only last a few hours in Katie’s stomach before coming right back up. C’mon baby, that meal wasn’t cheap! Looks like we’ll be sticking with Bojangles for a little while longer, but hopefully we’ll be back to doing going out as much as we can soon, before the baby turns every night into a frozen pizza night.
