Holiday weekend
So here are some highlights or just noteworthy events from the holidays, '07:
Sunday. D and I took Amtrak to get to Boston, and the ride was uneventful. However, the drive home from the Alewife T station was not. Mom has a penchant for getting lost on the way home (and blaming me for it!) So I micromanaged her driving from then on. She also collided with a snowbank and started heading to Providence at one point (though I averted that disaster). The high speed on the highway also made me nauseous. So, let's just say - I'm happy not to have to drive in New York! I'm a walking kind of gal.
Mom told us a story about my aunt (on my father's side) and her cat. One night Mom went to check on my aunt, who is 91, and found her anxious about her cat, Sophia.
Aunt: I'm going to stay up with Sophia. She's having a problem with her leg and she can hardly walk.
[Sophia strolls by, without effort.]
Mom: She looks fine to me.
[Sophia sprints up the stairs.]
Mom: I think you're being a worrywart about Sophia. [This is where I get it!]
Aunt: I'm surprised she would mislead me that way. She's always been such an honest and straightforward cat.
Sophia, by the way, is beautiful - white with artfully placed gray markings - but she hides under the bed whenever I go over there (or anybody else who's "new"). It's a bummer.
Monday. D did some last-minute Christmas shopping, using one of my mother's cars, and I called his cell because everyone was getting ready to go to mass and he wasn't home yet. It turned out he was in the parking lot of the North Shore Mall, which isn't pretty on Christmas Eve. "What color is your mother's car? What's the license plate?" he wanted to know. Fortunately, he was able to identify it by the college sticker on the rear windshield. That same night, I'm pretty sure the baby kicked for the first time. His feet aren't very big yet, so I feel little thumps and twinges. But I'm pretty sure that's what it is.
Tuesday. I see my sister's dog Biscuit about twice a year, but she remembers me as the one who always walks her. So she started following me around and "talking" to me as soon as I got there. I relented and walked her (or rather, she walked me). She also took a puffy red ornament off the Christmas tree and ran around with it in her mouth. She has large, placid brown eyes like a deer. A very pretty dog.
Wednesday. We're about to head back. I'm reading Easy Labor, which is making me calmer about delivery. Though whether it will be "easy" is anyone's guess. I'm not counting on it, but I am hoping on a relatively calm and well-informed delivery. I've queried numerous people about their labor experience and I think baby size does correlate with pain.
Sunday. D and I took Amtrak to get to Boston, and the ride was uneventful. However, the drive home from the Alewife T station was not. Mom has a penchant for getting lost on the way home (and blaming me for it!) So I micromanaged her driving from then on. She also collided with a snowbank and started heading to Providence at one point (though I averted that disaster). The high speed on the highway also made me nauseous. So, let's just say - I'm happy not to have to drive in New York! I'm a walking kind of gal.
Mom told us a story about my aunt (on my father's side) and her cat. One night Mom went to check on my aunt, who is 91, and found her anxious about her cat, Sophia.
Aunt: I'm going to stay up with Sophia. She's having a problem with her leg and she can hardly walk.
[Sophia strolls by, without effort.]
Mom: She looks fine to me.
[Sophia sprints up the stairs.]
Mom: I think you're being a worrywart about Sophia. [This is where I get it!]
Aunt: I'm surprised she would mislead me that way. She's always been such an honest and straightforward cat.
Sophia, by the way, is beautiful - white with artfully placed gray markings - but she hides under the bed whenever I go over there (or anybody else who's "new"). It's a bummer.
Monday. D did some last-minute Christmas shopping, using one of my mother's cars, and I called his cell because everyone was getting ready to go to mass and he wasn't home yet. It turned out he was in the parking lot of the North Shore Mall, which isn't pretty on Christmas Eve. "What color is your mother's car? What's the license plate?" he wanted to know. Fortunately, he was able to identify it by the college sticker on the rear windshield. That same night, I'm pretty sure the baby kicked for the first time. His feet aren't very big yet, so I feel little thumps and twinges. But I'm pretty sure that's what it is.
Tuesday. I see my sister's dog Biscuit about twice a year, but she remembers me as the one who always walks her. So she started following me around and "talking" to me as soon as I got there. I relented and walked her (or rather, she walked me). She also took a puffy red ornament off the Christmas tree and ran around with it in her mouth. She has large, placid brown eyes like a deer. A very pretty dog.
Wednesday. We're about to head back. I'm reading Easy Labor, which is making me calmer about delivery. Though whether it will be "easy" is anyone's guess. I'm not counting on it, but I am hoping on a relatively calm and well-informed delivery. I've queried numerous people about their labor experience and I think baby size does correlate with pain.
Comments
Monday: That is hilarious. And yaaay for baby boy thumps!
Tuesday: So sweet of you to walk the dog!
Wednesday: Prepare for the worst but expect the best.
Re the thumps, in a few weeks I may be able to see the foot poking out?
Hooray for kicking bebes!
BTW, Dick and I were in NYC last month and took the Greyhouse/Peter Pan bus from South Station right into the Port Authority. It was our first time taking a bus, but thought we'd give it a try since we were in Boston already. It was great - $15 each way!! I couldn't believe how cheap it was. And it got us there in about 4 hours. I would definitely do that again.
And that's great about the baby kicking - very exciting!