44 pounds

2004-05-08 - 4:29 p.m.

that's right. 44 pounds. I did a trial-packing for China this afternoon and I'm only 4 lbs over the alotted 1 x 40lb suitcase, so I'm good to go! I might switch a few things around, but at least now I know I can take enough for me and Dumpling, and my parents only have to take a few things with them for us. I'm particularly proud of how everything manages to match (lots of pink, aren't you surprised?!?!), serves souble or triple function and folds down to nothing.

The thing I am most proud of is my own version of space saving bags. I took some Ziploc bags with the zipper on them. Stuffed my undies in one, my socks in the other, etc. I closed the zipper all but one inch, and I rolled up the bags, squeezing them as much as possible, and closed the last inch of the zip. Voila! Space Savers! 12 for a dollar!!!! It actually works! I was thinking of doing it with my kitchen space bag vacuum thingy, but then as soon as I opened a bag, I wouldn't be able to reclose them. But with the Ziploc, I can do it over and over again. Of course, the don't make ziplocs big enough for my pants and shirts, but the babys clothes did nicely in there.

We had a lovely Shabbat dinner at our house last night with the couple from my soup committee. Both hubby and I really enjoy their company. D and her husband A are funny and did a fabulous job cheering us up after the day we had. Ironically, D also had a bit of a bad day and I think she was glad for the company. I really look forward to many more evenings in their company. Finally, I think we have made some new friends that will last! yeah!!!!

Anything to add? 0

The other shoe drops....

2004-05-07 - 10:42 a.m.

when it's too good to be true....

My dear hubby cannot come to China to pick up our little dumpling... Because of the recent SARS cases and the hightened alerts with airline passengers coughing, he's been warned that there is a high likelyhood he would be quarantined upon our return, or worse, quanratined in Bejing, which would be an absolute nightmare.

So he has to stay home. While it does simplify a lot of things with the store and the move, it TOTALLY SUCKS THE BIG TOE that he doesn't get to come on this trip of a lifetime... he's being very practical and pragmatic about the whole thing (We only foudn out an hour ago), but it's gotta be hurting him inside. I know it's tearing me apart. I want him there, but the risk is too high....

Why can't we *Ever* get a break? Why can't anything ever go smoothly for us, why does there always have to be complications, hurdles, bumps in the road. Just once, I would like something to just work out the way it does for everyone else....

Anything to add? 10

Saying goodbye

2004-05-06 - 7:59 p.m.

Thanks to the Newfoundland early satellite feed, it's 8:00 pm on the east coast and I've already seen the last episode of Friends (everythign is an hour earlier in the Maritimes....)

There is no point going over the episode, it was as was to be expected, excellent writing, pretictable storylines and satisfying ending.

But something occured to me as I was watching. Friends started airing in September of 2004, exactely one year AFTER I graduated from University. It has been part of my entire "adult" life. I took to it right away. They were living the life I dreamed of. Try as I might, I never made friends with the people in my building at the time. (although we did use to have a good time watching the drag queens leave for a night on the town on the close circuit camera!!!)

But during the first few seasons, as their friendships were solidifying, my over-achieving friends were moving on to Cambridge and George Washington, the UK, DC, and later Vancouver. My closest girlfriends all left within 4 years of graduation. I made other friends, through work, at the bar where I was more than a fixture (ironically, called Cheers!), but those passing friendships were never going to be the same as with those 3 girls. Through it all, Friends was a staple of my life. I moved to Boston for a while and I felt like I took my own buddys with me on Thursday nights when I caught my favorite show.

Like the caracters on the show, I changed jobs and moved ahead in my carreer, lost my job to restructuring and then made a major carreer change. I had my heart broken, dated some real losers, and then met the love of my life. I moved a few times, changed my hair and style. I even went through infertility at the same time as Monica.

I'm glad Friends is over. not because it wasn't a good show. But as prepare to enter motherhood next month (holy crap that's scary!!!!), I couldn't imagine still watching the show. It would feel weird not to watch it anymore, or it would be weird if the show's focus changed to parenting. Because your life between college and parenthood is different from your life once you're settling down and are raising children.

So I'm glad their timing turned out to be in perfect sync with my life. I'll miss them. I'll probably get the DVDs, or catch it in reruns, because some of those scenes will make me laugh for always.

So long guys. It's been a real fun ride.

Anything to add? 2

Remember the time when....

2004-05-05 - 8:19 p.m.

I'm stealing this from Jen, who stole it from someone else...

Invent a memory of me and post it in the comments. It can be anything you want, so long as it's something that's never happened. Then post this in your journal so that people can invent memories for you.

Seems like a silly exercise, I know, but I did it for Jenn and had a blast. Let your imaginations run wild!

Anything to add? 4

Try again tomorrow

2004-05-05 - 9:35 a.m.

here are 5 reasons why I should go back to bed right now and try again tomorrow:

5- in walking to the bathroom this morning, I twisted part of my foot and now the two smallest toes are swollen to riple their size and I cna't hardly take a step without shooting pain

4- The cleaning lady went to start the laundry and we were out of laundry detergent, so I had to take my limpy foot to the store at 8:15 in the morning and pay 3 times the price for some horrible brand at the only place open at this time of day

3- the pump in the coffee machine is clogged, to I couldn't steam the milk with my coffee (I make a small shot of expresso and dilute it)

2- and speaking of milk, I am totally out of lactose free milk, so I had to use my husband's whole milk, which is just like cream if you ask me

1- and finally while taking a lactose pill to counter the whole milk, I swallowed wrong and have had the stupid little pill stuck in my throat for about 30 minutes and it won't budge.....

So I'm going to go back to bed now and try again tomorrow because if you ask me, this day is a bust already!

Anything to add? 2

watch out for grandpa!

2004-05-03 - 10:32 p.m.

Today wasn't a productive day for me. It's my day off, and I had lunch with a gal-pal, bought a DVD burner and took a much needed afternoon nap. As I said, not very productive. But I guess I deserved a break. I've been motoring through so many projects lately.... Along with moving and adoption packing, I finally got around to transfering our home movies from the mini tapes to the computer. I've also been tickering with movie software to edit the footage and make my own DVDs, hence the burner purchase....

We had a funny conversation with my parents this weekend. After years of trying to make sure I didn't make them grandparents as a teenager or young adult, my parents have been ready for grandparenthood for a while now. i remember a few years back, a distant cousin of mine brought her 6 year old to a family get together and my dad spent more time with that child than he did with adults. He had a blast. He's been very keen on the China trip too. But this weekend, we had proof positive that he is actually more exicted than my mom about this baby. We got invited to a wedding in August, on a Sunday afternoon. So at dinner, I mentioned to my parents that, depending on the baby's adjustment, we might drop her off at their off that afternoon and pick her up after the wedding. My husband was quick to point out that my parents might want to go cycling that day and we would see when we got closer to the date, trying not to be presumptious about babysitting. But he didn't get the sentence out of his mouth. My father, the avid cyclist, who wouldn't miss a Sunday ride for rain, sleet or snow, who crossed Canada twice on his bicycle, quikcly interrupted and made it very clear that he would never, ever pick a cycling ride over spending time with his granddaughter, and that if she wasn't ready to spend a day at their house, they would gladly come to us that day. It was so automatic, so genuine a response, it gave me shivers.

My mom has been very vocal about wanting grandchildren, imposing herself on other people to take care of their little ones, showering friends' grandkids with attention and presents. But my dad has been quiet and reserved. But now that she's a reality, he's out! he's been shopping like a madman! this froma man who always told us we had too many toys and spoiling was bad for kids. Turns out it was only bad for *his* kids, not his grandkids!!!!

Anything to add? 4

Guilty and embarassed, but thankful!

2004-05-03 - 8:11 a.m.

Will the guilt never end? This time, I feel guilty for thinking that my dear, sweet, caring friend IH would have let the arrival of this baby pass without fanfare. Of course not! I was so focused on my bitterness of my inlaws and their reactions, I didn't notice that IH was planning my much hoped-for baby shower!!! I did think my hubby was acting a bit odd the last few days (a bit MORE odd than usual!!!), but on Sunday morning at 10 am, when IH called to ask me to come over to help her select fabric for curtains she intended to make, I thought something fishy was going on..... (I LOVE IH, but she is a sleep in kind of girl, and she can travel the world to broker some huge important deals, but sewing curtains, not so much!)

So at the appointed time, I showed up at her apartment to be greated by my mother and aunts, some dear friends, and 2 of my SILs and my MIL.

The atmosphere was much the same as my wedding shower, my inlaws stuck to each other and didn't speak to me too much, but when it came to the baby-food testing game, one of them was quite eager to jump in! And the other one, who's recently reached out to me for some help with a photo-slide presentation she's working on for an upcoming family party, did pay me a nice compliment about my willingness to help her and my availability, even though I've got so much going on.

But the start of the day had to be IH. She planned this without help, made lots of yummy chineese food (all Kosher of course!), decorated her apartment with paper lanterns and even had chineese music playing in the background. She manage to pan bilingual games to appease both sides of the family, and even made me work a little to be allowed to open the gifts (I had to figure out the meaning of some chineese words!).

Dumpling got lots of cute bears, toys, a ton of books (including the adorable Sammy Spider collection from the Rabbi's family), a quilt, many many cute outfits, adorable hand-painted book-ends, and lots more! Of course, IH outdid herself, having the baby's name caligraphed in chinese on beautiful hand-made paper. It will hang proudly in her room.

I came home feeling comforted. Her cousins did make her some hand-made cards to let her (and us!) know how excited they are that she is arriving soon. I'm sure we will treasure this for many years to come. But also, it was nice to see that she will have a large community to welcome her, and who knows, she might even be the one to bridge the divide with my inlaws. (well, if I'm going to wish, might as well ask for the moon!!!)

Anything to add? 6


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