The Stroller Coaster

I've always considered myself to be an excellent researcher. Hell, most of my major classes in school depended on it. So between researching demographics/marketing data for school, and having an OCD-influenced habit of reading online reviews before major purchases, I considered myself a research savant. Things have changed.

Strollers have effectively crushed my research ego.

Let's take an abridged walk down stroller lane. Strollers. Seems simple enough.

But wait a second, buddy..you have decisions to make. Long gone are the days of just getting a STROLLER. Do you want a standard stroller, a lightweight stroller, a jogging stroller, a travel system, or a tandem stroller?

Hmmmm..okay, let's go a different route here..let's look at some brands, that should make this a bit easier.

BRANDS? Oh, we've got brands alright! Evenflo, Graco, Chicco, Bugaboo, Maclaren, Zooper, Baby Trend, Safety 1st, Combi, UPPAbaby...

Whoa whoa whoa..since when did GM start producing strollers too? Is the baby product market so competitive that the number of manufacturers needs to be in the double digits?

And well, the answer is yes. For all intensive purposes, it seems that the stroller stopped being about the baby a long time ago. Now the differentiating factors lie in the various creature comforts that are in store for Mom and Dad rather than the little one. Cupholders, storage bins, shopping baskets, one-handed steering (which I'd like to see accomplished with two klutzy dogs in tow), off-road capabilities, and on and on. And travel systems are a totally different animal, with the ability to turn a car seat into a carrier into a stroller attachment. My mind has officially been blown, and not by Sony, Microsoft, Apple, or any other technology giant. Oh no, that honor goes to Graco.

And you best believe that the user reviews on these products are a ridiculous combination of entertaining and informative. Just by reading some of these people's maniacal rants, you can tell their children are going to be the home-schooled bubble children who end up working at Erotic City and freaking out on PCP. Okay, that might be a little dramatic, but really..some of these people need to chill out.

So needless to say, the past week or so has been a flurry of online research and attempts to whittle this redwood into a toothpick by narrowing down a final stroller list. Which led me to a frantic lunchtime escapade yesterday.

5 minutes before I'm about to leave for lunch, I see a Twitter message from BabyCheapskate (yeah, that's right) announcing a deal on Babies R Us' website for a Graco travel system for only $85 after discount (normal price is around $230). As soon as I see this and verify it, my game face is on. I felt like Indiana Jones in the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, getting ready to swap the bag for the gold idol. E-mailing and making phone calls all at once, I was determined to snag this deal while it was still good. Always a clutch player, Dad jumped in and went through all the steps to order this bad boy, and then met a final screen that said PRODUCT NO LONGER AVAILABLE.













Sigh. Frustrating, but I won't give up hope. I am determined enough, and am slowly becoming cheap enough, that I WILL hunt down a deal on something..stroller, high chair, year's supply of pacifiers. Oh yes, I will.

In the meantime, I'm going to look for a stroller that is bluetooth-enabled and has built-in speakers with an audio-in port for my mp3 player. Ava and I aren't going to just walk, we're gonna HUSTLE.

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The First Post of Awesomeness

This is my blog.  That much is obvious.  Now why did I feel the need to start a blog? Simply put, I have a LOT going on in my life right now.  And as useful as facebook and twitter (both conveniently linked above) are, I needed another avenue to talk about everything that is going on.  Plus, I think that somewhere out there in this Internet universe, there are other young, Generation Y fathers-to-be and husbands-to-be that are looking for an opportunity to relate a bit.

I titled this bad boy 'A Family of My Own' because these two major things that are happening revolve around one common theme; making that big step in life from being 'in' a family to 'having' a family.  Now, before I get the semantics police (and relatives) all up in arms, I simply mean this; While I was a son, a brother, a nephew, and a grandchild before, I'm now also on my way to being a husband, a dad, a brother-in-law, and a son-in law as well.  And while those new titles are easy to throw out in a blog, each has a lot of meaning behind it and has taken (and will take) plenty of work to earn.  I am especially thrilled about the idea of having my own nuclear family; minute, seemingly stupid details like sending out a family Christmas card excite me (I can already hear the laughter) and it seems like every day I find something new to look forward to.

So where do we stand right now? Well, let's face it, I'm a little late in getting this started.  I thought about doing this a while ago and, surprise surprise, I've been caught up in doing so much stuff that it fell behind a bit on the priority list.  Right now, Amanda and I are about halfway through the pregnancy; going off of our original due date of 11/24, she finished her 20th week yesterday.  BUT, we are both fairly convinced that she is a bit farther along than that, especially after the sonogram photos indicated that the due date might be bumped up a little.  That being said, I'm still crossing my fingers for a Halloween baby.  Yes, I'm that big of a Halloween freak.  

Surprisingly, the last couple of weeks have been pretty calm in terms of getting ready for the arrival.  There was a period where it seemed we were going nonstop between finding a new apartment, finding out the sex of the baby (the most beautiful little girl that will ever live) and various other activities.  Of course, I never take periods of calm for granted, nor do I expect them to last long, because if there's anything I've learned thus far in 2009, it's that anything can unexpectedly pop up at ANY time.  Plus, I know we have a doctor's appointment coming up and our big move is exactly a month from today, which I am desperate for. Our current 640 square feet for 2 people and 2 dogs is not a living situation, its a sick, twisted experiment that is testing our sanity, patience, and our creativity in how to store all of our stuff.  2 bedrooms, 2 baths, here we come!

Well, I feel like I'm already starting to ramble, but that should be expected from this point on.  I am going to do my best to insert some sort of structure into this thing, but at the same time, where's the fun in that?  

I'll be back soon, and in the meantime, enjoy 12:34:56 7/8/09 today!  

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