social and environmental

So, readers, a miraculous event occurred last night. I hung out with people! And I don't mean chatting online! Anderson came too, which may be even more miraculous. I kind of forget that he's pretty funny to people other than me. We ordered Thai food and ate homemade bread pudding and talked and laughed and played board games. All in all, an excellent evening. And people tell me that apparently I look pregnant now. Clodpollish, I say!

And, I have plans to have lunch with people (mostly different people) on Monday. Semblance of a social life, here I come!

Yesterday I also went to this baby fair held at one of the hospitals. [If you are bored by baby-related comments...*cough*Austin*cough*...feel free to skip this paragraph.] Basically it was a bunch of booths about different baby-related products and services in Nashville. A lot of it was photography or stuff specifically with the hospital, trying to recruit you. There were also several 3D ultrasound booths, which -- thanks to Keri -- I am no longer interested in because they are creepy looking. But there were some useful things too, like some new stores I found out about, some pediatricians I talked to, drawings for free stuff that I entered. Best of all, though, was the cloth diaper delivery service that I found out about! Su-weet!

[If you are bored by diaper-related comments, skip this paragraph.] I've been trying to figure out what to do about the diaper situation that will surely arise once the baby's born. Disposable diapers are seriously out of the question to me, due to their environment-destroying powers and all the chemicals that go into them that will then touch my perfect baby's skin. But my memories of cloth diapers that my mom used make them seem unpleasant as well. I remember the diapers being bulky, fastened with safety pins, and then topped with a giant rubber diaper cover, and then they leaked and were gross and you had to wash them. So the delivery service takes care of that last part, and this particular delivery service is pretty environmentally friendly and constantly trying to improve (read their plans for the future under FAQs...holy cow!). And the diapers now are way smaller, as are the diaper covers - smaller and more attractive, and no safety pins are involved! It seems quite awesome. Of course, I'm aware, environmentally speaking, that there is still an impact, what with the water to wash, the disinfectants used, the cotton grown to make the diapers, etc, but I do think it's better than disposables. There's also a third option, though: gDiapers. These are biodegradable, compostable, all natural disposable diapers that have a cloth cover with a disposable insert. These seem the most environmentally friendly of them all, although my sis tells me they are awkward to use and leak a lot. So we shall see. Also part of the consideration is comfort, etc, for le bebe. Cloth diapers are said to be more comfortable, cause less diaper rash, and help potty train sooner because the baby can feel when the diaper is wet (as opposed to disposables that wick away moisture). And something about cloth diapers just seems nice to me.

But who knows, the verdict is still out. Feel free to comment with your expert opinions and try to sway my decision.