Finally, 10 Things About Me!

I'm sorry it took so long for me to get around to this! It's been a busy week. My wonderful hubby turned 50 yesterday, and I threw him a lovely, yet quite small dinner party. He did not want to make a fuss. But I was able to invite a just a couple of friends & neighbors so I had to do shopping & get the house clean and make the special request white chocolate cheesecake... etc. etc.

Anyway. The meme.

The rules are that you have to write a blog with 10 weird, random, facts, habits or goals about yourself. At the end choose 6 people to be tagged, list their names and why you tagged them. Don't forget to leave them a comment saying ('You're It!') and to go read your blog. You can not tag the person that tagged you, so, since you can't tag me back let me know when you are done so that I can go read YOUR blog answers.

1. My mom didn't let us kids have sodas when we were growing up (except on special occasions or going out) and now I hardly ever drink them. They don't taste good to me, except the rare coca cola over lots of ice on a very hot day. My mom also never got us peanut butter, but I just love that stuff. Have it all the time. Isn't that weird?

2. I make a damn fine white chocolate cheesecake (gluten free).

3. When I was a kid spinach was my favorite vegetable. It's still in my top 10.

4. I know lots of songs from Broadway musicals and sing them all the time. I raised my kids on show tunes. Hence we are a very weird family because we don't know anything about American Idol but can sing all the words from "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."

5. I married my husband twice, almost a year apart.

6. Daniel was born when I was 30. I was born when my mom was 30. I don't know if this 30 year thing goes back more than this.

7. I am "woman, interrupted." I was interrupted 3 times while trying to write the last 6 lines.

8. I wanted to be an actress. Now I want to be a writer. I have been slowly choking in non-artistic jobs. I want my next job to have an artistic component. OR if it doesn't, then I have to write something on the side. A story. A book. An encyclopedia of mom knowledge that's important yet hilarious.

9. I shouldn't hide things because I forget where they are. One Christmas Daniel was a little sad after present-opening time, and it was because he didn't get something that he asked for. I said, "Wait. I got you that." Yet there were no more presents under the tree. OOPS! So I went in search of it (and I found it in the garage) but while I was looking in other places I found another present that I had hidden for Nora, and then yet another present that I had hidden for Dominic THE CHRISTMAS BEFORE.

10. I just took the SAT.

Who am I going to tag? Jules, Daena, Windy, Kristen, because I'd love to hear what they have to say, and I'm not tagging anyone else because everyone has been tagged!!!!

I'll post pics from Matt's birthday soon. More people coming for dinner tonight, though!

Daniel's Birthday

Here in the mid-eastern part of the U.S., the crocuses always make their grand appearance for Daniel's birthday. If it had been a sunny day today, they would have opened up their cheerful faces to the sun. I guess that will wait until tomorrow!

Fifteen years and one day ago, my husband woke up and told me about a funny dream that he had. He said that a high school friend of mine had come to him in his dream and told him that she knew about these things, and that baby was coming tonight.

At the time we were living in Saudi Arabia, where my husband worked for a Saudi company. We lived on a compound in a nice house with a wacky kitty. That was February 25th.

I told him that was ridiculous. "What does she know about babies anyway," I said. "She's never had any. If it had been your grandmother, coming from the great beyond to let us know about the baby, that would be one thing. But no. Anyway, the baby isn't due for another month."

That day was a Thursday. The weekend there was Thursday & Friday. We had an ordinary day, and we had lunch together. Then my husband drove me over to a friend's house for a little get together. I found out right before walking in the door that it was actually a surprise baby shower (someone had dropped their invitation on the sidewalk!). Not only was it a surprise shower -- it was a surprise baby shower LUNCHEON. But I had already eaten lunch. But the lady who threw the luncheon made so much food -- it was so fancy -- and she was Greek and the tables were filled with stuffed grape leaves, moussaka, spanikopita, tiropita, lamb kebob and yogurt... you've never seen so much food. There were about 30 ladies there... and a beautiful home made cake that looked like it came from a fancy bakery with pink & blue baby booties made out of frosting on top!

So I had to eat. Again. The hostess made me a plate of food and had me sit at the table of honor. It was so good, so delicious, and I thought I was going to die. I was 8 months pregnant, and I could only eat little bits at a time because my stomach was so squished. But I persevered, and was so thankful and grateful for all these lovely women, these new friends who gave me a shower when I was so far away from home & mom & other relatives & my old friends.

But my goodness, my stomach hurt after that. I smacked my husband when I got home and asked him how he could have allowed me to eat lunch when he knew I was headed to a luncheon? He just didn't want to give it away. I couldn't eat dinner that night (Matt had leftovers from the party) and we took a long, long walk so I could work off some of that food.

I was pretty tired that night. Put on my pj's, and got into bed. Just after we turned out the lights I felt/heard a *pop!* I sat up. "Oh! OH!" I said. I couldn't say anything else. I had never experienced it before, but I knew then that my water broke. When I was finally able to get the words out & tell Matt, he went into action. Here I thought that I would be the calm one and he would be the typical crazy male trying to get ready for the delivery of his child... but he was methodical. He got our list, packed the bag, called a neighbor to see if we could stop by and get a camera because ours was broken (and we thought we had another month before we had to be ready for delivery). We went to the hospital (about a mile up the road) where they told me that I wasn't leaving without a baby.

I was scared. Partly because this was happening a month early, and partly because another lady in my lamaze group had given birth early and her baby died a day after it was born. Once we got to the hospital and I could hear the heartbeat I felt better. But it was a long night.

My contractions were really mild. In fact, they were going nowhere. So in the morning, the doctors said they needed to induce the baby, since the water already broke. A little pitocin later, we went from zero to 10 cm in a couple of hours (OUCH!) and out came Daniel, wrinkled, just under 6 pounds, no hair and jaundiced. He was beautiful.

After that I believed my husband was actually psychic or something. He's still pretty good with hunches. Just don't ask him for lottery numbers! But we did win the grand prize -- a great kid -- smart, funny, caring, tolerant... and in this last year with his diagnoses of diabetes and celiac, also brave, strong, and capable.

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

See What Happens When You Have a Birthday?

Actually, it was a few days before my birthday that I woke up in the middle of the night, quite uncomfortable. In that pre-dawn muddle I wasn't sure what was bugging me, but I tossed & turned and finally shook it off enough to fall back asleep. When I awoke, my elbow hurt.

It hurt like I had banged it against the corner of my night table (not an impossible thing to do in my sleep, knowing me). I looked for a bruise but saw nothing. Shrugged. Oh well, it will go away.

But it didn't go away. The darned thing hurt all week! I didn't take anything because it was so incongruous, I just kept thinking that it would disappear in the night, going the way that it came.

Last weekend the elbow spoke quite loudly. It would not be bend all the way. It would not straighten. No lifting, please. What the heck happened?

I got an appointment this morning, not with my doctor, but with the P.A., who told me I had tendonitis. Huh? Where the hell did that come from? Honestly, the dishwasher wasn't that heavy. I helped move it a few feet and felt no pain. Nothing snapped or pinged or creaked.

I must take advil around the clock for a few days and ice ice, baby. See the lovely ice pack?

So my boss had an explanation as to why it happened. He said, "it happened last Sunday because you were one day older than last Saturday. And that's what happens when you get older. You get pain. Things start falling apart." Yeah. Right around the birthday, too. Sheesh.

Half Way Point

My birthday is coming up. Two more days and I'll be 45. I don't want a cake because 1) Daniel can't have any regular old gluten-filled bakery cake (and I sincerely doubt that any other members of my family are going to attempt to make a gluten-free one) and 2) I'm trying to lose weight so cake is counter productive. The best birthday present ever was yesterday when Matt installed my lovely new/old dishwasher. Thanks to Carla for donating her not so very old dishwasher to me when she got a newer model. It's Bosch, it's sleek & stainless and I love it as much as one can love an appliance.

So... the birthday thing. There's no guarantees about anything, of course, but am I at the half-way point? What shall I do from here on out? I feel so often that I have been going from one day to the next doing what needs to get done, but not really *living*. Not being aware.

The title of this blog is from a Mary Oliver poem, the summer day, which ends like this:

"I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life? "

I haven't been kneeling in the grass today, it's just too wickedly cold for that! But I am in the middle of a lovely day spent with my family. We're going out tonight for my birthday because Wednesdays are just too busy. In this relaxing day there's time to write and think over life, its joys, its challenges, its blessings. Do a little laundry, do a little knitting, give and receive a lot of hugs.

I'm trying not to let the age thing bug me, but to deeply practice the gratitude I feel for all the wonderful people in my life. Breathe in, breathe out, repeat.