So far, the eggplant doesn’t seem to have sped this along. We have until about 7 p.m. tonight until Scalini’s free dinner and t-shirt deal expire. Oh well. As I’m sure my brother-in-law Scott would attest, this is all probably just a conspiracy to make sure that our baby arrives right around 7 p.m. this Sunday, just as the Masters tournament concludes. I’m sure they have CBS on the hospital tv system, so hopefully Amy will find the azaleas and green grass have a calming effect. A guy can hope, right?

Several blogs I check out regularly (including BoingBoing and DaddyTypes) point to this posting at Debris.com telling the woeful tale of a company which has insinuated itself into the hospital L&D process, and seem to generally take advantage of a very hectic time in new parents lives by sucking your personally identifiable info (PII). They promise a ‘free’ portrait of your new child – but that’s essentially in exchange for becoming fodder for Growing Family’s list sales efforts. Growing Family’s privacy policy – you know, the one you don’t read ’cause your in freaking LABOR – gives them the right to share your private information with anyone.

Growing Family will use your information from time to time to promote additional products, services, rewards and special offers from Growing Family Network and its select Network Partners.

As Debris.com so appropriately notes – ‘My point is not that Growing Family was deceitful. My point is that, to my dismay, caveat emptor begins at birth.

We’re getting tired of waiting. So we headed up to Smyrna for dinner tonight to see if Scalini’s Eggplant Parmesan has its desired effect. We’re registered there now – so if Baby Trotz comes along by 6:50 p.m. on Monday night, Amy and I get a free dinner, a Scalini’s t-shirt for the baby, and our photo immortalized on the wall, right beside clippings from People, Southern Living and other area newspapers. The food was not bad at all, and the portions huge. Amy (obviously) had the Eggplant Parm, and I had the Veal Marsala. But the whole thing may actually revolve around the fluffy rolls they serve, literally doused with warm olive oil that has about four garlic cloves chopped up and sauteed. Homer says ‘Mmmmmmmmmmm garlic!’ (so do Joey & Amy). More reports to follow…..