I just took a peek at my blog stats, and every day since August 17, the site traffic has skyrocketed upwards! Like 3 times normal viewership. My first guess is everyone is really excited this time of year due to my birthday, and they’re checking in to see if I had a good 32nd birthday or not. The answer is yes, it was a fine birthday. Probably the least exciting of any birthday I’ve ever had, but I suppose you could categorize it under relaxing. I got a birthday call from Patrick. We did some light shopping. I took a nap. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings with friends at night.

There’s also the distinct possibility that many people are checking in for baby updates, as the baby was in fact due seven days ago! Sorry folks, no news. In fact, there are only three valid guesses still out there on the baby pool after today (Eddie Guerra, 25th; Bobbi Jo Chapman, 26th; Douwe Rienstra, 29th). The only news to report is Anne has been in town to help with the baby, and her entire four-night stay is in jeopardy of missing the baby completely! But, what can you do? The baby will come when he/she is damn good and ready. We should be cherishing this unexpected extra down time, I suppose.

But, that makes it a bit difficult to do things. For starters, Lauren being pregnant or not, it is fiery hot outside. We’re looking at our 15th straight day in the hundreds, without having seen a drop of rain since July 17. It is just too blazing hot to justify going outside because I’ll be a sweaty mess in under a minute standing still. 30 seconds if I’m moving. 15 seconds if I’m moving briskly. I coasted on my bike down to the mailbox with Baxter in tow and we came back to the house pooped out. Maybe native Texans can stand to do things outside in this weather, but I am not among them. This is every bit as bad as -40º with a windchill, in my opinion.

Secondly, Lauren is of course 41 weeks pregnant, so if we did think of something interesting to do at a cool indoor location, we don’t really want to go too far away, and we also can’t be doing things that involve much physical activity. Thirdly, we shouldn’t be spending much money because once Lauren goes on maternity leave our household income drops off. These factors have kinda left us confined to the cool indoors of our house, where I tend to go stir crazy rather quickly.

I have no problems sitting inside and messing around online and watching TV all day… if it’s overcast or rainy outside. But as soon as the sun comes out I can’t do it. If we had blackout curtains all over the house, maybe. But something about it being sunny tells me I am a horrible person for sitting around the house. And something about it being 105º outside tells me I’m an idiot for going outside. So this combination of things makes me feel very trapped and makes me panicky. So, that’s where I’m at right now. I haven’t a clue how to spend the rest of this Sunday.

My best idea that matches all criteria… we go walk around the Lakeline Mall. It’s nearby. It’s cool. It’s indoors. We still get some exercise and move around. We don’t necessarily have to spend any money. Baxter–in dire need of exercise–still has to stay home in his crate, so it’s not foolproof, but it’s something. Oh wait, tomorrow’s the first day of school so the mall will be overrun with last-minute shoppers. That just leaves getting drunk, but then again I need to be able to drive to the hospital in an emergency.