Bad day

Walked out to the car to find a ticket saying we were within 6 feet of a fire hydrant. ($115 parking tickets in NYC; gotta love it.) We weren't, so we stopped to take pictures. Drove down to get food only for it to start pouring rain, so poor Charles drives around the block several times while we get our food, get soaking wet, and then get back in the car only to remember the stroller . . . the stroller we left on the curb while we were taking pictures. Nice. Of course, it's totally gone now - practically brand new. It's still pouring rain, but John says he's going to keep going around trying to find the stroller while I get dropped off at the apartment. And right as I walk into the building (carrying baby and three bags through the still-pouring rain), I remember he has the keys, not me.

At least the baby wasn't in the stroller, John says. That's true, and a couple hundred dollars here or there in the grand eternal scheme of things, etc, etc. But still. I'm somewhat less than thrilled.

Running late

This morning, my friend Ruth was running late. She had a long list of things to get done before leaving for vacation tonight. Early wake up. Showers. Baths. Of course, as usual, things didn't go as planned. Stuff happens. She was running about 10 or 15 minutes late, so she decided to go to the bank and get quarters to start the laundry before going to the store to pick up her prescription. On the way home, her husband called to check on her. See the "reade" in red letters at the left of the picture?

That's the store where her prescription was. Not a good place for anyone to be at 8:15 this morning, especially someone who's six months pregnant. It pretty much got crushed in today's crane collapse. On our way to Sleepy Hollow yesterday (no pictures, sorry; it didn't look very spooky anyway on a bright, sunny May day), we drove past that crane and commented on how unstable it looked to the untrained eye. Guess our eyes aren't so off after all.

In any case, next time you're running late, give yourself a break. You never know.

(Sorry, Ruth, for putting your story out in the blogosphere before you blogged about it . . . How rude am I?)

A Day at the Beach

Charles came to town . . . with a CAR! We have been taking advantage by planning out how we can use said car every day. Today - the beach, Long Beach, NY, to be specific, which was sweet and charming. It was also a bit cold, and we forgot our sunscreen, so a long leisurely visit wasn't in the cards, but now we've scoped out all the best places for next time. I hear the LIRR stops relatively near.

Tomorrow is still undecided. Any ideas?

* * *

May 27

Making me happy today

Is a broccoli salad Nicole introduced me to a few months ago at book club. I have modified it for one (apart from the dressing, which serves four), as follows:

1/2 c. reduced fat mayo

3 T sugar or Splenda

1 T red wine vinegar

Chopped Broccoli

Chopped red onion

2 slices bacon, crumbled

1 ounce extra sharp cheddar 2% cheese, shredded

2 T sunflower seeds

A perfect lunch for one. Almost makes me feel okay about eating lunch alone today after eating with John all through the long weekend.

Eating lunch together wasn't the only fun thing we did this weekend. Since my friends Dave and Will (both of whom were in the China 1999 study abroad group), were in town, we trekked up to Yankee Stadium to begin Evelyn's indoctrination. She seemed to take to it well (despite the somewhat unattractive picture memorializing her trip), although she suggested she might be happier at a game not scheduled in the middle of nap time. I suggested that I want to sit in seats with backs next time. I am graduating myself from bleachers, I think, despite the fact that sitting in the bleachers at a Yankees game really is something we should all experience at least once.

We also got a little preview of what comes next.

On Sunday, we had double-header guests. Dave came by for lunch (giving me reason to actually prepare something other than PB&J, thank you Dave), and then Melissa and Clark came for dinner, since we're related now (her brother just married my sister). This officially kicks off our post-kitchen-renovation dinner guest phase. Our fridge arrived Friday. I will not bore you with the details of how I ordered a fridge in mid-February only to be told in May that the earliest delivery would be mid-July (the fourth different delivery date I was given, each one later than the last), which prompted us to order another fridge that cost more than twice as much. Oh, well, I guess I already did. Sorry. In any case, if we've been telling you for months now that we want to have you over once the kitchen is done, you're invited. Just drop us a line and let us know when you're coming.

How did I unlearn this?

I sit next to Evelyn as she plays with her toys on the floor. She keeps looking over in this mirror and laughing, talking, trying to grab the baby in the mirror, trying to kiss the baby in the mirror, and I have to wonder, when did that end for me? When did I start grimacing at my flaws instead of laughing with delight at my own reflection? Can I get it back? That total pleasure with myself? Can I teach my child to keep it? I wonder.

Then and Now

Then . . .


. . . and Now

Photo credit: JR Geoffrion

Slides

Remember back in the old days, before digital anything, when people would come visit armed with slides - vacation slides, family photos slides, etc? Well, this post is kind of like that.

* * *

May 14 - on the plus side, this hat keeps the sun out of my eyes. However, it also makes me look bald. Hmm, tough choice.

May 15 - These glasses are much more my style.

May 16

May 17

Evelyn has not started creeping or crawling in any kind of a useful way yet (useful meaning she can get to something she wants instead of screaming for it). Mostly, she just tries to pull herself forward but pushes herself backward instead, gets stuck in a corner/against a piece of furniture, and cries. (We've had a lot of crying at our house recently, in fact, and are *this* close to weaning due to her new habit of screaming inconsolably every time I try to nurse her. Although she is demonstrably hungry, she will suck for a few seconds, then scream bloody murder and refuse to latch unless I nurse her while standing up and swaying side to side. Sigh.)

In any case, nothing motivates her to try to crawl more than a nasty pair of rain boots or running shoes. I mean, come on, who WOULDN'T want to chew on that? Yeah, well, that's what I thought, too.

May 18 - the toilet paper is no longer safe

May 19

May 20

And . . . we're back

With two new teeth (May 10 and May 12), a possible allergy to bananas, a rash (doctor's appointment scheduled for this afternoon), and several new tricks: more rolling, clapping, pushing backwards, and occassionally getting up a little bit on her knees, just for a split second. She's also pretty close to pulling herself up to stand. Last week, she was pulling herself up with the aid of my fingers, then sitting right back down, standing up, sitting down, etc in long stretches. It's like baby calisthenics. If only I could be so dedicated.

The wedding was great. Aunt Careen looked beautiful. We don't have any pictures, though. I told JR (who also photographed our wedding) that I wasn't going to bother taking pictures. His will be awesome, so there's really no point, especially since he'll probably get images to them within the next day or two. Coming back after spending a few days with family to an empty (and now that we're back, a messy) apartment was a little bit of a downer, especially when it rained most of the day Monday, but yesterday and today have been gorgeous, and now Evelyn and I are pumped for summer in the city.

* * *

May 2 - who says 6+ hours in the Memphis airport isn't a good time?

OK, well, that person was mostly right. We missed our connection because our flight was a little late coming out of Laguardi (not even bad by city standards, maybe 45 minutes). Then, when we got in, we sat outside our gate, unparked for about that long again. Their radar had sensed lightning in the area, and ground crew goes inside until the area is lightning free for at least 10 minutes. They told us our departing flights would also have been delayed, but they were wrong, and of course, the next flight was not until 7, and then it was delayed by over an hour. I swore I was only flying nonstop in the future. But now, looking at $224 versus $400 for two plane tickets in October (when I drop E off with my mom so John and I can go on vacation), I'm reconsidering.

May 4

May 6 - this ark was actually Charles and Lawrence's when they were little. Noah has been misplaced somewhere in the various moves since, but Mrs. Noah did fine job of caring for the animals herself, with some help from friend Evelyn, of course.

May 7

May 8 - Behold, the original (sort of) wide-mouthed frog . . .

. . . and the new generation

May 9 - Kim (Meara and Lucien's ex-nanny, a good friend of the family, despite all they put her through) and her husband John came with their baby Kaylie. The girls played very well together.

May 10 - my only wedding-day picture: E with great-Grandpa

May 11 - home again, wearing the Braves onesie Uncle Charles specifically requested that we didn't have time to wear between when John brought it and when we left. John and I thought about it and realized he was only actually in Keokuk for less than 48 hours, since he got in too late Thursday to drive up until midday Friday, and we left early on Sunday to meet my friend Collette and her family for lunch and church. Kind of a quick trip for him.