Random Penguins (2/26)

Amphibious22

I also cut the cord from cable years ago. I agree with the group that says it's cheaper. We pay $60 for 100 Mbps and then Netflix and Hulu are only about $20 total. Still feels cheaper. Although on this move they literally threw in basic cable and HBO for free. I'm not gonna say no to free stuff and it'll be nice to be able to watch things like the Oscars at home. 

And thanks to all for the well wishes on the move. We are moved in and starting to unpack. Everything went very smoothly and our house is amazing, but I ended up getting sick. Not sure if it's actually sick or my body just not being used to the desert dryness, but I feel like death. Probably just gonna me reading and love titting the next few days while I settle in. 

ramennoodlegif

@Amphibious22 Glad to hear you're getting settled, and are finally away from the stereo-blasters! Sorry you're not feeling well. Hope you feel better soon!

dinodna3

Totally NBR but does anyone use a Shark steam vacuum or something similar for tile?

@Amphibious22 Glad the move went well! Hope you start feeling better soon. 

jsl82

@Amphibious22 congrats on the move- hopefully you feel better soon so can focus on getting everything in order.  Moving sucks... but it's exciting at the same time.  

LaceyBee522

@dinodna3 I use a Shark steamer for clothes and it is GREAT. I'm assuming their cleaning stuff would be equally great. 

mytinc

We had a local internet service $45 and Direct TV (basic channel plan, but we'd gone through the 2 year promo so it was $120 a month).  No home phone line.  We were already using Amazon Prime for shipping purposes, so I don't count that.  So our total "entertainment" bill was running $165 a month.

We dropped DirecTV (which was a painful process that took a month, multiple 30 minute phone calls, and lots of pressure to move to a new package).  We switched internet companies.  Purchased Hulu Live and Netflix.  We now pay $50 for internet (faster speed than before), $40 for Hulu Live and $8 for Netflix.  $98 total.  With us both working full time and having young kids we literally never have time for TV ourselves, so just today I dropped the Live part on HULU and dropped that subscription down to $8 a month.  So we're at $66 for entertainment.


I can't see how bundling is cheaper.  I think they sell you that line.  If you threaten to go to another company they'll likely lower the prices they're offering for just internet.

krash_

Just a heads up that the November BMB is up! There's only an intro thread so far so not much going on but I'm sure they will pick up steam quickly. 

Also, another month up means we are another month along! It's crazy that a few of the earlier due dates are almost in third tri!

mytinc

My BFF had her 3rd baby yesterday at 37 weeks, 3 days.  Baby girl was already 8 lbs, 9 oz.  I can't imagine if she waited until 40 weeks to arrive!

sabby2

See, I agree with the cheaper option re: cable too. We're still researching but even if I factor in a slightly higher Internet price we still come out almost 70 or more dollars ahead every month and that's with sling, hulu with hbo add on, and netflix.

@Amphibious22 glad the move went well and feel better!

catlady1215

It makes my heart happy to see nov copy/pasted the full wkly thread organization post from someone. Not that chopped up one from whatever month did that

May14th2011

I successfully convinced the kids to watch Coco again. I'm not ashamed to say I love it. I love the plot, the music, the vibrant colors... The only downside is it makes me crave Mexican food and that's not a thing here 

lisa2589

April already has a couple of birth announcements, guys. Granted they’re super early, 33 weekers, and I certainly don’t wish for any of us to have our babes too early. But still- this means May is the only month left to start having birth announcements before we do 

catlady1215

That's just crazy to hear! 

And obviously hope all the early april moms/babies are doing well

catlady1215

Annnnd just going over there to check it out might have lite a fire under my ass. 33 wks is only 6 wks away. Anything can happen and I have literally nothing prepared yet. Not one thing except maybe 2 outfits.. somewhere lol.

i also know 2 different people that had their babies at 28 wks (both kids older now and fine). But whoa! I can't imagine having this baby NEXT wk!

twelvetwosomeonenew

I can hardly (not quite even) keep up with our BMB. How do y'all find the time to stalk them?!? I am so envious! 

&& I am not even a little but ready for tomorrow guy to make his arrival. 33 weeks is just toooooo close! Buuut, 40 weeks feels too close right about now too. 

May14th2011

Anyone else planning to cut their hair before baby comes? My hair is really long, so I'm planning to cut it at least shoulder length in May. I want it just long enough to put in a pony tail, but definitely want it shorter. Last summer we reached 120 degrees (farenheit) so I'm trying to prepare for both that and the pp hair loss.

BurlapandLace

@May14th2011 - I plan on cutting mine before our shower/maternity photos in early April. So I will likely be cutting it at the end of March. Same as you, I still want it long enough to pull back, but I want it a lot shorter than it is now. Mostly because I haven’t done anything with my hair in over 2.5 years and it feels SO unhealthy towards the ends. 

izza2

@May14th2011 - I plan to cut mine, but it has nothing to do with baby and everything to do with the fact my hair is exceedingly long, overdue for a trim, and I need bangs again.
I've toyed with cutting it shorter, but then I think about how much I love and want to enjoy having long hair for a little while longer. I'm sure that'll change once LO starts grabbing strands, but we'll see.


Re: internet/TV/etc. -- I honestly forgot about the "everything included" bundles that exist. The only bundle available to us unless you want your internet to be satellite (no thanks) is a partnership between Dish and Frontier, which when they tried to push it on us, would've raised our price $20 a month or something. So of course that was a no. But really, I've compared pricing between just internet, internet + phone, internet + phone + TV, and the price still wasn't going up $60 if you dropped TV. Obviously it depends on the carrier, but, for the ones around here that I looked in to pricing quotes on, it didn't raise the price to drop the TV at all? It honestly doesn't make sense... paying more for less.
But I digress.

Austenista

Babies also tend to grab hair by the fistfuls. 

marcus7676

My hairdresser recommended I come in as close to my due date for a hair cut (I just got a trim in February). My plan is to go in in early May (especially since I may need a section at 37 weeks, which is May 11).  I had it short last summer so I'm trying to grow it out long enough for a ponytail now and it's almost there.

Amphibious22

I just got my hair cut before the move, but it was mostly so I don't have to find a new hairdresser right away. My hair tends to be easier to manage the longer it is, so short is out. I don't want to have to spend time doing my hair with a baby. If he gets grabby, I'll just throw it in a bun. And @izza2 I'm actually growing out my bangs. I love them, but again it feels like too much maintenance with a baby. 

May14th2011

Just a little budget brag- we hit our budget goals this month and actually put money into savings! We're so bad about spending money, and we definitely went over on groceries but we still stuck to our budget as far as savings and paying down debt.

bearmoons

@marcus7676 and @Amphibious22 I'm with you guys....I need to have it longer and will just put it up. I'm super lazy with my hair anyways. I'm almost at pony tail length. I can get most of it in, so I think by the time baby is here it will be long enough. One of my BFFs does my hair so she has me scheduled right before my shower and then mid/end of May for a trim, assuming all summer I'll be too busy to come in  

izza2

@Amphibious22 - I usually get angled/side bangs that are long enough I can put them up in a hair tie or clip, but not the same length as the rest of my hair. They grow wicked fast compared to the rest of my hair, so after a couple of months, they're almost as long as the rest of my hair.
My bangs are weird.

krash_

Y'all I already have someone on my post-it note in Nov. 

izza2

@krashke - Ditto. It's probably the same person

lisa2589

@krashke @izza2 okay now I definitely need to go check it out! 

LaceyBee522

@krashke @izza2 @2589 What do you mean re: post it?? Is this an inside thing??

doxiemoxie212

I am team long hair. When my hair is long it’s heavier so I never have to style it. I can put it up easily. I wash it once a week. Short hair grows out so quickly for me and looks weird, fluffy, etc. 

krash_

@izza2 @2589 I don't like that she was basically like "this is how it has always been done" well that was from your BMB 2 years ago. Not how the majority of BMB's are now. Oct screwed it all up. 

Also, I don't get the logic of having people sign up for threads makes more people participate. It makes those few people participate more maybe but it doesn't make it so that new people feel like they can get involved. 

@LaceyBee522 it's just a metaphorical post-it note of my mental list of people that I think are going to create drama. ETA: to keep an eye on them. But some may have an actual physical post-it note lol

izza2

@krashke - That was my exact response! I'm sitting there reading before class this morning, and I'm like "No, girl, you're old-school AF. Get with the program!"
And no, having people sign up for threads does not make more people participate. Plus, I hate to be a realist, but the thread-sign-ups are so early in the board/pregnancy, and anything can happen.
TBH, as someone due later in the month, I would be sad if everyone was assigned threads to start and I felt like I couldn't spam the board with new threads on Monday mornings, because they were all signed up for prior to my joining.

lisa2589

@krashke also she kept interjecting how she was just trying to do how Oct is doing it and it took everything for me to be like “they’re not even doing it right!” 

izza2

Also, I'm sorry, maybe I'm the only one who saw and was pissed about it, but someone said they're heavier with this pregnancy than their last, and that they'll "be a cow".
That's a great way to talk about not only your own body, but every other overweight-pregnant-woman's body. I guess we're all just going to be cows by the time we give birth.

krash_

@izza2 I didn't see that but I would have felt the same way. Everyone's body is different and you're making a human give yourself some love! I think the pressure on women in general is awful but I think it is worse in pregnancy. Why is there no body positive pregnancy movement? People feel like it is for some reason ok to comment on a woman's body when she is pregnant and I know that keeps me from posting pictures on SM. I don't want people to think I'm too small or too big or not doing what is right for the baby. 

amys614

@izza2 seriously?! How rude of them!

I wanna be this one then

ffw0617

@May14th2011 that's awesome. I successfully made it through February without any new debt. I've been working on pay stuff out/ reducing expenses since last March. Started off strong and ended up reducing debt 16% in 2017. I paid off a cut up another credit card on Feb 1. I wanted to do the same to two more accounts (one credit card and our last furniture account) in March, but since I'll be unemployed after the 15th, I may need that money to pay bills in the coming months. We'll see, I'm going to try to find some other sources of income.

izza2

@krashke - That's why I've only taken one bump picture over the past almost-24 weeks.

It was in their randoms thread.
I totally understand feeling worried about weight gain, but it's also ridiculous to say comments like that.

LaceyBee522

@izza2 So annoying. I had such a mental block about maternity clothes because I'm already plus size. I don't need to hear her body shaming bs on here. Blargh. 

Austenista

@izza2 I am so self-conscious about being plus size and pregnant. I've gained 4lbs and feel guilty about those 4lbs. Also I never feel like I look pregnant just larger. I keep reminding myself that I'm just as worthy of pregnancy as anyone else and that my body is just as capable and strong. 

LaceyBee522

With November opening up, it got me thinking about our early days as a board. It is so weird to me that some folks who were so vocal/active have completely disappeared. And others have stepped in and become regulars. I wonder where those women went...maybe they just lurk now? No judgement, just thinking about the "evolution of us."