Nerd Status Panic Attack

In the world of baseball, going 2/3 in a game is a great batting average.

In the world of being almost a nerd, going 2/3 means I haven't gone over the edge. Yet.

But oh man, did I get a scare.

Scrolling through my FB newsfeed ... saw a post by Mr. Sulu George Takei that a friend shared ... and almost had a heart attack.

OH CRAP. I KNOW WHAT ALL OF THOSE ARE.

Or at least I thought I did.

The ways of the force? Easy, that is. Star Wars.

The One Ring? You mean the One Ring to Rule Them all? LOTR. Duh.

Muggles? Wow. Talk about a reference out of left field. They brought in Puddleglum from The Silver Chair? Random, but okay.

Except NOT okay because I know EXACTLY who they're talking about and so according to the totally legit authority of the some(e)cards meme, that makes me a full-fledged nerd!!!

Aaaauuuugggghhhhh!

Oh wait.

That said "muggles". Not "marshwiggles".

[Insert my quick Google search here.]

Oooooh. Those are from Harry Potter.

Never read the books. Only seen clips of the movies when other people have had them on in the room.

Never mind. I'm not a complete nerd.

[Yet.]

Dating Windows XP

Found some more treasures at the consignment shop for Little Guy, just in time for the M's home opener on Tuesday:

Does this Giants' fan get bonus points for buying M's gear for our son? I mean, seriously.

[Mr. Dude asked me to wear M's gear to the game, and I think I almost laughed in his face. I reassured him that I love him. A lot. And then I reminded him that this is baseball we're talking about. I only wear black and orange, no matter who is playing or who my husband is cheering for. The "leaving and cleaving" may apply to my family, but it does not apply to my baseball team. Just sayin'.]

Also, I'm claiming bonus points for the R2D2 and C3PO shirt. Because what nerd's kid's wardrobe is complete without something from Star Wars?

I digress.

The day of said home game where Little Guy sported his Griffey gear, Mr. Dude and I were filling out paperwork at the doctor's office for the [insert trumpet fanfare here] one year appointment.

Me: What's the date today?
Mr. Dude: The 8th. Do you know how I know it's the 8th?
Me: Because it's our dating anniversary?
Mr. Dude: No. And yes! But today is the day that Windows XP support ends.
Me: And you know that more than you know that it's our dating anniversary?
Mr. Dude: Hey, I had to live and breathe that deadline! 

In all fairness, our dating anniversary is something more like a three day stretch, because it took one day for him to ask me to be his girlfriend, one day for me to think about it, and a third day for me to say "yes". April 8th is the day I said "yes". So sometimes I have a hard time remembering which one we celebrate [answer: we kinda, sorta celebrate all three].

And in all fairness, his massive project at work as a "Sharepoint Farmer" [as he calls himself] has been to migrate everything on their servers to a new OS so that everyone and their mom couldn't hack into the system. So the countdown to April 8, 2014, has been on his work desktop for the last couple of years.

Oh, widgets. What did we ever do without you?

Even so, the ordinals in his head for April 8th events went something like

[Windows XP end-of-support, M's Opening Day, 8 year dating anniversary, SQUIRREL!, Little Guy's appointment].

If he's not careful, I'll start calling him Szalinski.

[And he'd like you to know that he's proud I'd even use a reference from a 90's movie.]

In a Galaxy that Looks a Lot Like Home ...

... and in a not-so-distant future ... 

Mr. Dude and I have been taking a lot of walks lately.

They're a good way to escape the soon-to-feel-really-cramped-when-Little-Guy-starts-crawling apartment at the end of a long day and enjoy whatever sunshine we have left here in Seattle before the gloom and doom of winter sets in.

[This is where Mr. Dude chimes in, "But Stephanie, you have to admit that we've had a good summer! You had 80 degrees and sunshine most days!" And my reply will always be, "Yes, but I will still miss my Rainbow flip flops."]

It's also great for keeping Little Guy placated in the late afternoon doldrums somewhere between I'm-too-tired-to-be-cheerful and it's-too-close-to-bedtime-for-another-nap.

So, we suit up with jackets and the Ergo (aka, "Little Guy's Kryptonite") and head out for a nice stroll.

Because we live close to one of the universities in town, we often see college kids. They look at us walking along with our munchkin and smile. And we look at them walking along with their load of books bag that probably just has a tablet and smart phone in it and smile. (And then I remember how long ago our own college years were. And I start wondering when the gray hairs are coming.)

Late last week, we saw another family walking with their two children and I'm sure the mom gave us that knowing smile which said, "Oh, that's so cute that you just have one who's not mobile yet. Just wait till you have two and one of them talks and runs everywhere!"

[Side note: Mr. Dude's mom keeps reminding me that he was running - not walking - at ten months old. Ten months old!!!! I'm quite content for Little Guy to just sit up on his own and only roll one direction at six months, thank you very much. Once he's mobile, it's game over at our house.]

The family's older son looked around 3, almost 4 years old and the little one was only a couple of months old. Mom was pushing the stroller and dad was attempting to hold the little boy's free hand as he bounced around like a jack rabbit.

The little boy's other hand clutched a light saber, drawn and ready to use on any Sith Lord who dared attack.

And I suddenly had a glimpse of my future. 

A few years from now, when Little Guy is running and jumping and talking about a hundred miles a minute, we'll be on another family walk. I'll have the next Little One in the Ergo and Mr. Dude will be attempting to contain Little Guy's free hand while the other one grasps a light saber.

Um, does that mean my kid is going to end up like this?

I wonder if I could get him a play version of Peter's Sword from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to use instead ...