The internet desert

For the last month we've been without interent and while wading through the sand of the wireless-less desert, here's a few things I discovered:

• Gardening - we didn't know it, but moving into our house we inherited an entire ecosystem complete with abundant vegetation and animal life (mainly spiders). I've now seen the enemy, declared war, and for the last few weeks have been fighting the good fight and weeding the bad weeds. I've pulled three overgrown rosebushes, attempted to uproot a tree-sized bush, and filled three whole bags with dandilions. I've edged, trimmed, mowed, fertalized, sprayed, and sweated. Actually, it's all kinda fun.
• Studying - I'm taking the GRE this coming June and have began brushing up on test-taking skills and strategies. Once again I'm faced with a system designed solely to test how well you take a test. Any tips from any of you out there? Yes, I'm talking to all four of you that read my blog.
• Baby stuff - That's right, we've started the long road now. We've acquired a crib and changing table (thanks Mom), tons of baby clothes (times two--thanks Jaime and twins), an awesome stroller (thanks family), and disposable nursing pads (I'm not even sure what those do). I received the first real "baby feeling" the other day when I lifted the carseat out of our stroller, held it in my arms, and pictured a little blond bundle there. Two months and counting!
• BBQ - Lesson #1--If you burger gets pinker in the twenty minutes it's on the grill, you need more charcoal. Lesson #2--You need more than 8 peices of charcoal to get a BBQ ready enough to cook meat for 15 people. Lesson #3--When dumping half a bag of charcoal on a BBQ and soaking it with lighter fluid, wait a few minutes before sticking in the lighter. Lesson #4--Singed arm hair looks funny.