More Nesting!?

Just when I thought we couldn't nest anymore, we did.

Who knew we had files of crap going back as far as 1989? Who knew that they needed to be purged RIGHT NOW?

After a review of all of our personal files, Steph managed to pile up a stack at least 4 feet tall of old paperwork. Since it all needed to be shredded I set to work. Hours later — the shredder would only run 20 - 30 minutes at a time before overheating and needing an hour to cool down — with less than a 4" stack of papers left in the queue for the shredder the shredder coughed and wheezed and stripped its gears. The shredder will shred no more. So much for my recently new but just out of warranty, 12-sheet, diamond cut, king of all SOHO shredders. I'm now left with a pile of stuff to shred and one more piece of junk to throw out this week.

What else was accomplished? Since Steph was reorganizing files and taking ownership of all of our household paperwork, something I am horrible at dealing with, I decided it was time to reorganize my office again. Add a new bookcase here, organize this pile over here, patch and paint holes in the wall, hang up the art that's been on my floor for months, etc. Of course, I'm still not done, I've got a stack of National Geographic maps that I have no idea what I'm going to do with and I still have to rearrange the books, camera equipment and CDs of various operating systems and software I have collected over the years.

Somehow I have a feeling what we'll be doing on New Years Day! Shredding! Anyone need confetti for a parade?

Nesting

Today marks Steph's 27th week and we're both in full-on nesting mode. (OK, more her than me, but I get roped into it!) Over the past few weeks, we've been busily cleaning the nursery, choosing paint colors, hanging ceiling fans and a lot of pre-spring cleaning around the house.

Since we've lived here for almost 4 years now and never had much of a need for the extra bedroom that is now the nursery, there was a lot of extra "junk" that just seemed to pile up in there. All of our mostly-disused CDs, books we'd read, magazines we'd flipped through, the "bag of bags" which provided convenient bags for any and every occasion, empty boxes, files, hiking gear, etc. You name it, that room had it! Much of the junk was thrown out or recycled, however, a significant amount of stuff needed to find a new home. By no means are we cramped in this house, but that meant a lot of reorganizing in the basement. Which means more junk to give away, throw out or recycle!

Collectively we've spent a few days working through our crap. Who knew two people could accumulate so much junk in such a short period of time!?

Now we're down to the fun part. The nursery is getting painted next week and the furniture should arrive sometime in February. We're often asked about the Jewish taboo regarding decorating a baby's room or having a baby shower before the baby arrives. Being that it is just superstition, neither Steph or I feel the need to stop being rational. However, we have agreed to limit what we do in the nursery until after the baby is born. So, we're going for the convenience route. The baby furniture will be delivered and set up in the nursery, the walls will be painted and it will be move-in ready! However, all of the baby clothing, pictures, toys, sheets, etc. are remaining tucked away in the basement until after the baby is born.