What's on this summer?

So the TV situation has slowed down a bit lately. We're no longer in danger of filling up our DVR, but there's still plenty of good stuff on! Here's what I'm watching this summer...

Drama:

• Friday Night Lights (NBC): This show is just awesome. It's a total feel good show -- everyone needs one of those, right? And if you haven't watched before, don't feel like you can't jump in now! The coach is at a new school this season and has a new team to take to the state championships.
• True Blood (HBO): Good, sexy, scandalous vampire fun. Need I say more?
• Rescue Me (FX): The second-to-last season premiered tonight, but I haven't watched the episode yet. In the final scene of season 5, Tommy (Denis Leary) was left bleeding on the floor of a bar after being shot by his uncle. There's always drama in the Gavin family... Even though Tommy is a TOTAL scum bag, I just can't help but pull for him.

Comedy:

• Entourage (HBO): Yes, the show has gone downhill, but it's only half an hour long. Watch it for the cameos.
• Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX): The new season starts Monday! Woo hoo! If you like guy humor (and I definitely do!), this show is guaranteed to make you laugh.

Reality:

• Top Chef (Bravo): It will be hard to top the rivalry between the Voltaggio brothers from season 6, but I'm sure season 7 will still be good. After 2 episodes, I don't have a favorite chef-testant, but someone will jump out eventually.
• So You Think You Can Dance: I was worried about the new format -- the top 11 dancers are paired with SYTYCD "all stars" from past seasons -- but so far, it's working out well. I think I like Alex and Kent the best.

Sigh, do I watch too much TV? What's going to happen when I have 3 months off work this summer?

Happy anniversary -- 3 years and counting!

Our anniversary isn't until tomorrow, but Jason surprised me one day early with a gift -- a Heather Moore charm to go with the diamond he gave me on our wedding day. The charm (as you can see) has "j heart m" on the front and our wedding date "6-30-07" on the back. I love it!

But even more than that, I love my husband. Thank you Jason for 3 wonderful years!

Belly shot #5 -- full term and feeling great!

I'm officially full term now (37 weeks), so I could have the baby at any time. But I have a feeling I will be late rather than early, so don't anyone get their hopes up just yet! My Dr. doesn't like patients to go too far past their due date though, so at least I know it will be sometime before July 21st.

Anyway, I've definitely slowed down a little, but am still feeling pretty good, all things considered. I'm trying to keep active and am walking around as much as possible. The pregnancy workout DVD has kind of fallen by the wayside, but I do still pull out the resistance band and get through a couple of exercises when I have time.

Other than that, I've just been keeping tabs on World Cup soccer and Wimbledon (John Isner finally won the set from hell, by the way, 70-68). Keep yer fingers crossed for Andy Roddick. I'm hoping this will be his year!!

Congratulations Natalie and Jordan!

Cole Vassil (7 lbs 12 oz and 20.5 inches) was born 11:34 PM on Monday, June 21. Pictures to come!! I am so happy for Natalie and Jordan. Nat has been my pregnancy buddy this whole time with a due date just a few days ahead of mine. Does this mean my time is coming soon?? Who knows!

June showers bring July babies...right?

Justin and Kristie had all of Jason's best pals and gals over on Sat for food, drinks, and baby gifts. As you will see from the photos, Jason's friends are doing their best to make sure this kid gets off to the right start with music! Click the photo for the full album on picasa.

I can't say enough how much we appreciate all the love and support we've received from everyone. Jason's friends have been especially helpful with advice and recommendations since many of them have had babies in the past couple of years. And I want to give a special shout out to Justin and Kristie for hosting! We love you guys!

Surprise!

One of my favorite things about working at an ad agency is how creative people can get with their parties. No standard store-bought decorations allowed! It's all about the personalized posters, funny cards, and tie-ins to whatever brand you happen to be working on.

I was the guest of honor at such a party this afternoon...to my complete and total surprise. I thought I was walking into a concepting regroup, and instead walked into a room filled with friends, pink decorations, and posters of a very pregnant me. For those who know me well, I reacted in typical Overbey fashion, which means I turned bright red, developed beads of sweat on my nose, and had to avoid all eye contact for the first 5 min of the party. Ha! But then I composed myself was able to enjoy the cake, gifts, and good conversation with all of my coworkers.

The party table. Looks like it's time for a shopping spree at Target! How many diapers do you think I can buy with $200?

 The poster--graphics by Susan and Pearl and witty copy courtesy of Mike M and Jason V

I think I have just about the best coworkers out there!! Thanks guys :)

Extreme room makeover--part 3

I've had a few requests for updated nursery pics, so here goes. We're still not completely finished, but have made definite progress since Feb, when the room was still a "man cave." Here are the links to my previous "Extreme room makeover" posts so you can be sufficiently impressed with all of the changes we've made:

Extreme room makeover--part 1

Extreme room makeover--part 2

And here are the latest photos:

Same old couch and curtains, but see how nice they look with the purple rug and baby quilt!

Around the room we go. It's a little tight, but who cares! Babies are small

The crib in all its glory. We haven't decided what to do with the wall, but the one random ladybug will eventually get some friends

TV and book/toy shelf

A nice clean closet--Jason just installed those shelves today. Thanks Jas!

Holy hand-me-downs!

Well, I certainly lucked out this weekend! My new coworker Sandra decided to get rid of a bunch of baby stuff and she let me take my pick before packing off the rest to Goodwill. I scored a big box of toys, a stack of gender-neutral onesies, a Miracle Blanket, a Moby Wrap, and a bunch of other useful baby gizmos and gadgets.

The spoils from box #1...box #2 is still in the trunk of our car. Thanks Sandra!!

This, in addition to the gear we've borrowed from Marc and Caroline, and I am starting to feel like we're in pretty good shape. What would we do without the generosity of our friends and family? We've got one more shower at Justin and Kristie's on Saturday and I think we'll be set. Bring on the baby!

Side note

I just want to clarify one small point after my last post -- I don't dislike Nebraska football at all. If you look over to the left, you can see me proudly sporting Nebraska Red at the 2009 Gator Bowl vs Clemson. I just don't want to have to deal with them playing my teams every year. It's been ten years since Nebraska killed Northwestern in the 2000 Alamo Bowl (final score 66-17) and Jason still revels in the victory. I would prefer to see the Huskers win against teams like Missouri, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech. I'm just sayin'!

Adding Nebraska to the Big Ten could really put a strain on my marriage

I can't believe it's really happening. We'll know for sure on Friday, but the latest gossip is that the Nebraska Cornhuskers are going to leave the Big 12 and join the Big Ten. Jason is over the moon, as this means he will now get to watch every game at home and have the opportunity to see his Huskers play in person as close as Evanston, Illinois.

But what does this mean for ME? I will now have to go head-to-head with my ultra-competitve husband, and my ultra-competitive brother-in-law, at least twice a year when Nebraska plays Northwestern and Ohio State.

I know it will be good for the conference. And good for Nebraska too. But I am not looking forward to the texts and the taunting and the stress. And I know that I have no shot at recruiting my daughter to be a Northwestern or Ohio State fan like mom. Our unborn child has already received a Nebraska T-shirt, hat, cup, bowl, bottle, pacifier, and scarf. Once Big Red gear hits every gift shop in the Midwest, Jason is not going to be able to resist coming home with child-sized Tommy Frazier and Roger Craig jerseys.

Wait a second, wait a second. Why am I even worrying about this? After Ohio State makes Nebraska its punching bag a few years in a row, she'll know who to cheer for. And after Northwestern crushes the Huskers BCS hopes and dreams with one last-second victory after another, the only texts I will receive from Jason and Joe will be ones that say "congrats" and "nice game."

Ok, I feel better about this now. Sorry Jas. Enjoy the Big Ten.

If I was having a boy, I'd name him Stanley. Or maybe Patrick.

Just kidding. I'm not that big of a Hawks fan! But, it's still very exciting to have a winning hockey team here in Chicago. And the victory more than makes up for the US loss in the Olympic gold medal game.

Like most of the other Blackhawks bandwagon fans, I jumped on when they brought in Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. So it was especially exciting to see Kane score the winning goal in OT and to see Toews get the MVP trophy. They're both just so adorable with their baby faces and patchy beards! But I digress.

 Congratulations Chicago Blackhawks!! You've made our city proud

Wine country without the wine...still awesome

So I guess you could say this trip to California was the last hurrah. And what a wonderful last hurrah it was! We spent 3 days in San Fran and Sonoma County for Daryn and Kristen's wedding, and, as an added bonus, we got to spend some quality time with Murray, Kyle, and Maggie Lee.

Patrick and Sarah were on the same flight out with us, so we were travel buddies for the weekend. And all of Jason's best friends were there to see Daryn get married too. How could this weekend not be fun? Check out the pics and see for yourself! It's another picasa album, so if you click the photo, it will take you to the full slide show with captions.

LOST revisited

Ok ok, I've had some time now, and I think I'm over it. Yes, I wanted more from the finale than just "yay, the characters are all better people now." But the show was so complicated, I wonder if they ever would have been able to resolve it in a way that was truly satisfying.

The show was interesting, frustrating, fun, well-acted, and memorable. I made new friends at work by going to LOST lunch every week for the last 2 seasons. And my mom and I spent countless hours on the phone obsessing over our love for Sayid and our theories on the Dharma initiative and Charles Widmore.

Do I need to know what happened to Juliet's sister? Or what was up with all the people in the Temple? Probably not. Although they are claiming that the writers will answer many of these questions in the Season 6 DVDs.

I think it's just going to have to be enough that the show gave me Sawyer, Sayid, Locke, Ben, Juliet, Hurley, Desmond, and countless other amazing characters. I'll leave you with one final link--the original casting tapes if you haven't seen them yet. Apparently everyone wanted to be Sawyer (even Jorge Garcia!). My favorite clip is the last one -- Michael Emerson auditioning for the role of Hurley:
http://jezebel.com/5544063/lost-the-14-casting-tapes-that-started-it-all

So long, LOST!

The Secret River by Kate Grenville

The Secret River by Kate Grenville


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Interesting, but gut-wrenching, novel about a British convict's struggle to make a life for himself and his family in Australia in the late 1700s. Similar to our own American history (and I guess any story about colonialism), the British settlers decide to forcibly push aside the native population instead of learning to live peacefully with one another.

Grenville does a nice job presenting both sides of the story -- you feel for the main character and the painful choices he has to make. But ultimately, it's the Australian Aborigines who get screwed.

This novel is well-written and definitely worth the read!

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