Things I like, TV edition

I don't want to sound like the lamest person alive or anything, but since Nora was born and I took my maternity leave, I've gotten more into television. It's not that I watch more TV than I once did, it's that I care if television is good or not. Where TV was once mind numbing entertainment when I was at home sick or beat after a day of work, and I didn't much care what was on, J and I now look forward to specific shows. This is new for us. Go ahead, make fun. We get excited about television programs. Since I've put more energy into what I choose to watch, I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you.

"Freaks and Geeks." This one's not on the air anymore. In fact, it was only on for one season in 1999 before it was canceled. What were they thinking? This show is incredible. J and I just rented all the episodes and from the very first one I was completely in love with all of the characters. A few now-famous stars were in "Freaks and Geeks" before they were household names, like Seth Rogan, James Franco and Jason Segal (I love Jason Segal! He's hilarious!), but the entire cast delivers amazing performances. I mean, people, I don't talk like this - "delivers amazing performances" - what?! That's how much I love this show. It revolves around the lives of several high schoolers and takes place in the early 80s, but there's no point in my trying to convince you to watch it by explaining all the details. Instead, watch this clip of "geek" Sam Weir getting all revved up about the Parisian Pantsuit he bought to impress the ladies.

"How I Met Your Mother." I don't think it's worth it for me to tell you guys that I love comedies that everyone loves, for instance "30 Rock," so I'm concentrating on shows that don't get talked about as often, shows that surprised me. I'm not sure why it took us so long to get into "How I Met Your Mother," but we have become true fans, watching it every Monday night. We know what channel it's on without having to use the digital cable "guide" feature. We never really did this before - actually plan to watch something on TV - except with "Law & Order SVU," and we're sort of over that. I dig that the characters (Jason Segal again!) spend a lot of time exchanging witty banter in a bar and I'm totally entertained. I'm no expert, but I think that's an indication of great television writing.

"Oprah." I'm not even going to waste my time trying to explain to you the sheer brilliance that is this show...the powerhouse, the genius, the friend, that is this woman.

"The Real World: Brooklyn." Seriously? Seriously. I've had my complaints about the newer seasons of "The Real World," but with this season the show's creators have really upped the ante, and I like it. There's a transgender cast member, for one thing, and everyone seems to be having the innocent-yet-worldly conversations that made me like the show when it first came on the air. Bravo, MTV, bravo.

One show I used to like but don't anymore: "Jon and Kate Plus 8." I'd catch it from time to time when I was at home with Nora, because it's on about twelve billion times a day, and while I never thought I would enjoy a show about a family with eight kids, I found it endearing and, even better, entertaining when Jon and Kate would fight - which it turns out they do a lot. Now I feel like all they do is fight, and while I'm not one to judge parents with that much responsibility day after day after day, Kate seems a little, um, domineering, doesn't she? I have this sneaking suspicion that under the surface she is totally seething and might jump ship one day. We'll see.

More about me that you may or may not want to know

A little while ago, when that "25 Random Things About Me" was running rampant on Facebook, I sat down one day, having avoided writing one about myself for some time, and succumbed. I was bored, it was cold out, Nora was napping and I figured, "Hey, I could read a good book but how about spilling some pointless information on the Internet?" It felt dumb. I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that sort of thing, but there isn't that much about me that people don't know, so my "25 Random Things" was more like "25 Things" I've told you a bunch of times already." So when I was tagged in this other survey on Facebook I probably should have settled with a "why bother?" but instead I decided on a resounding "let's do it!"

I thought I'd fill it out here, though, because - I don't want to be a hater or anything - but I like my blog a lot more than I like Facebook. Firstborn Share

1. Was your first pregnancy planned? It was, like, I don't know. Too personal. That's a good start on a post about "sharing."

2. Were you married at the time? Yes. Thank God. Or else the Catholics would have come calling.

3. What was your reaction? Nausea. Excitement. A sense of calm. Repeat.

4. Was abortion an option for you? Is this seriously a question on a Facebook survey? Are we having fun? Or are we starting semi-political debates?

5. How old were you? 30.

6. How did you find out you were pregnant? A pregnancy test, silly.

7. Who did you tell first? J, but almost my best friend Jennifer, for real, because J was at work and I couldn't wait. But then I reconsidered and decided I should tell my husband first because, you know, it was his baby and all.

8. Did you want to find out the sex? Yes.

9. Due date? September 25.

10. Did you have morning sickness? I sort of felt like I was carsick some of the time, but I was pretty lucky and it was never that bad. I was incredibly tired, however, during the first trimester, more tired than I've ever been in my life.

11. What did you crave? A very serious and important matter in my pregnancy. See here.

12. Who/what irritated you the most? My swollen ankles.

13. What was your first child's sex? Girl.

14. Did you wish you had the opposite sex of what you were getting? No, I was very happy that the sonographer was "99 percent sure" we were having a girl. There was this one point right after delivery where the anesthesiologist made an honest mistake and called the baby "he" and I started freaking out immediately thinking about the 7,000 pink outfits we were somehow going to have to return.

15. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy? Are you kidding me? There is no way I'm answering this. I gained, you know, enough to sustain the baby that was growing inside me. Plus ice cream pounds. Sometimes I wish we'd return to a culture of decency and decorum where women didn't dare talk about things like weight. That's how it used to be in the good old days, right?

16. Did you have a baby shower? Yes.

17. Was it a surprise or did you know? Um, I'm getting kind of sick of this survey. And bored. Anyway, I had one that was thrown by J's side of the family that was a complete and awesome surprise, one thrown by my office that was a total surprise and one thrown by my oldest and best friends that was a lovely sort-of surprise. My mom's side of the family also threw me one that I knew about. I'm a lucky girl.

18. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? I was very lucky and did not have any at all.

19. Where did you give birth? Yale.

Right now I am watching Nora, who was recently learned to turn herself over on her tummy, faceplanting on her activity mat while chewing on a little toy duck. Do I or do I not save her? After all, she is learning, and in my opinion she needs to learn that when she gets herself into situations like this, she's got to get herself out. And, I mean, it's pretty funny. It is also more interesting than where I gave birth, is the thing.

20. How many hours were you in labor? 24 (insert expletive) hours including the C-section.

21. Who drove you to the hospital? J.

Have you guys read the Twilight series? Jennifer is trying to convince me that I should start reading them. I'm nervous about it, because I'm pretty sure it's going to result in a Harry Potter-like addiction where I'm not going to want to do anything else for a few weeks. Then again, I could really use some good train reading.

22. Who watched you give birth? It was just gonna be J, the doctor and nurse, but it turned out to be a rather large surgical team. I viewed them all as very good friends at the time.

23. Was it natural or C-section? Please see above.

24. Did you take medicine to ease the pain? Yes I totally, totally did. I really respect women who go without, but I am very happy with my decision.

27. How much did your child weigh? 7 lbs. 11 oz.

28. When was your child actually born? September 20, five days early.

29. What did you name him/her? Nora Claire Chipmunk Cheeks McDonough.

30. How old is your firstborn today? Four and a half months. I was just kidding about "chipmunk cheeks," by the way.