Ironically, William is actually a workable family name for us...

See, and I was going to post William as a placeholder for young Stilgar's first name(instead of [name]), but I didn't want to be presumptuous.

Okay, how about Giles, then?

I'd like an informal Bitch polling here -- should one avoid giving a kid a really weird middle name even if you really like it? Not "Moon Unit" or "Apple" weird, but, um, fictional. From a genre universe. Slightly more obscure than "Frodo" but only just. (And not actually LotR, but you get the idea.)

Clovis would not be a weird middle name. IJS.

Speaking as someone who's middle name is the melding of two relatives' names AND who had her parents tell everyone for years that her middle name was actually Veg-O-Matic, I see no harm in odd or weird names.

Can you distract yourself? Turn on brain candy tv that always makes you happy? Do jumping jacks?

I've got some of my favorite music on and am drinking something really cold to try to shock my system (which, really, is just making me more cold). I'm trying not to take a break from my schoolwork, but I think I might need to. I can go watch some tv for a while and work on the quilt.

Aw, vw, sorry. What usually helps you calm down and focus--DVDs? A mug of tea? Meditation? Exercise? Do whatever it takes.

Plus the tech is usually great about pointing things out so you can see what's going on the geeky part of me likes that stuff.

Me too. I lurves the u/s tech at my OB's office.

Oh and FTR, I thought the most painful part of childbirth was THE CHILDBIRTH. Then again, that might have been because of the vacuum extractor.

We picked middle names based on 1) we like them and 2) they sounded good with the first name.

I could use some help calming down. I've been crying for about a half hour. I know I've got distortions going on, but I keep seeing evidence that they're true. I'm frustrated. And Toto can tell, so he keeps getting all worked up and barking at every little thing, which is just making me more tense. Normally, I'd try to get out of the house, but it's too cold.

Maybe a nice hot shower?

I don't think middle names carry as much social weight because it's not something people hear all the time.

I think it's nice to be able to play with a middle name--share a family name that may not fly as a first name or show some fandom love. I gave Olivia my maiden name as a middle name because it sounded nice and we can pass on the name.

vw, I hope you've found a good distraction.

{{{vw}}} Hope you feel better soon, sweetie.

Maybe a nice hot shower?

Yeah. I think that's what I'm gonna do.

I've actually been working really hard today. I've sent three math homework assignments to my professor (out of 11 total, so it really is a lot). Granted, they were all started, but today I pushed through the tough problems I hadn't wanted to/been able to do. And, I've written a couple of pages on the final paper for that class and scheduled the final exam. But, for some reason my brain doesn't think that's enough. It doesn't help that I'm getting a lot of pressure from my dad today to get the stuff done.

I think I'm hormonal, 'cause I haven't had this much trouble in a couple of months, and I was doing fine earlier.

We picked middle names based on 1) we like them and 2) they sounded good with the first name.

That's what my parents did. My sister liked her first name middle name combination so much, she dropped the last name altogether.

You have done a lot, vw, and deserve a break. I hope the shower helps.