Wintery Mix

Eight inches of snow on Thursday, and now a nor'easter blowing through. We're in the middle of what is euphamistically called "Wintery Mix"--sounds like a pretty candle fragrance, but it's a sloggy combo of snow, sleet, rain & ice. Luckily this one hit on a Sunday with plenty of advance warning so we can tuck in & watch.

In knitting news, I'm stalled about halfway through a clapotis scarf. Does anyone else find themselves halfway through a big project & suddenly thinking "I HATE THIS YARN! WHAT WAS I THINKING?!" Or am I not buying nice enough yarn? I have 4 skeins of a pretty dusky pink cotton classic yarn, so I need to start a baby sweater before the baby gets much bigger & I don't have enough.

Yesterday we visited a friend who has 3 American Shetland ponies, & he took us for a little ride through the snowy woods. Jingling bells & hooves crunching through snow--very buccolic, and only 1/2 mile down the road. I'm so glad to be able to offer my girls some rural experiences.

Cousins

I'm thankful for cousins. I grew up with cousins, 4 who lived in my hometown, 3 who lived a 1-day drive away, and 4 who lived across the country. I remember how much fun we had as kids at holidays & birthdays, continuing the games we left off at the last meeting. Now that we're adults, I don't keep in touch often enough, but when we do meet, it's still just like picking up where we left off. Our lives are very different & we have changed, but because we have so much common history and forged a bond so young, it still feels like close family to me.

I'm thankful that my daughters will have the experience of growing up with cousins. I hope their friendships will endure, and they will someday get together as adults & talk about those crazy aunts, uncles & parents.

We spent Thanksgiving with the cousins and had a very nice time. My niece Katie alternated between working on college applications & showing off her iBook. Here are the photos we took with the iBook camera--featured are me, Meredith, Katie & Julia:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Sunset

"Meredith likes sunsets."

Huh?

I was angry at my husband for taking off with the baby, leaving me with Sylvia. I was exhausted from night after night of multiple child wakings, & I thought he was going to take care of both of the girls while I took a desperately needed nap. But it's hard to stay angry at a daddy who is so delighted to take his baby to watch the sunset.

Sometimes Bad Is Bad

In psychiatry news, I have returned to work from maternity leave. Last week was The Big Transition. It makes a big difference having a job I love with mom-friendly hours--I wasn't glad to leave my baby but I was actually glad to get back to the office. Or at least for the 1st 2 days. Then all hell broke loose. sigh. I am unquestionably being punished by my patients for abandoning them for 10 weeks. I admit I was pretty rattled by the time I left work on Friday. After a weekend to recoup, I'm ready again, and I still think I have the greatest job in the world.

Pix

Just wanted to post some photos of my darling daughters.

Sylvia & my sister's cat, Patsy:

My little pumpkin:

Meredith & her baby quilt, made just for her by Regina, a family friend:

Mommy & her baby:

Pajama Party!

Feel free to post comments gushing about how darling they are!

In knitting news: Last year at this time I was knitting like crazy--my garden was done for the season & I needed something to keep me happily occupied. Now that I have a new baby, I don't have one of the things necessary for knitting: 2 free hands. Oh well.

Old Home Week

I had a wonderful trip to Missouri. It began with me getting on a plane BY MYSELF with my 4yr old & 8wk old daughters and traveling across country. Did I mention I took both the kids BY MYSELF? They were both perfect angels as always & the flights went as scheduled.

We spent 5 days relaxing at my parents' home. With Granny, GPop, Aunt B. & me there, we had a very sensible 4:2 adult to child ratio and there was always someone to hold the baby. I met my sister K.'s dog, Chaco & got to know her husband a little better too. The girls had some nice playdates with my cousin's 4yr old son Wyatt, who is the nicest boy you'll ever meet. Here they are eating lunch in the playhouse:

We set off on Friday for St. Louis for my medical school class reunion. I didn't go to any official reunion activities (lectures on orthopedic surgery research, anyone?), but the people I wanted to see the most (minus one--Christie, where are you?) were there & we planned our own reunion. Tim's flights to Springfield kept getting cancelled, so instead of flying into Springfield & driving with me & the girls to St. Louis, he ended up flying into St. Louis. I drove the girls BY MYSELF to St. Louis to meet everyone. Did I mention I drove 200 miles with my 4yr old & my 8wk old BY MYSELF? Actually, it was a pretty uneventful drive & everything went fine. Dinner Friday night with M. (neuroradiology fellow) in the Central West End at a new Asian restaurant, then dessert at a cupcake bakery (fun!). Then breakfast with M. & her husband L. at a crepe cafe, and then off to rediscover St. Louis. We visited the Gateway Arch museum (the wait was too long to go up the Arch), then went to the zoo & met up with D. (anesthesiologist now in Portland OR), J. (family practice in ID), J's husband & their 2 beautiful children. The zoo was the perfect activity: sunny & 80 degree day, plenty for kids & adults to look at, a little walking, and the best penguin exhibit imaginable. When the pre-naptime meltdown started, we regrouped, with the physicians beelining to a lovely LYS, Knitorious, while the men took care of the kids. Dinner at Olympia for Greek food (the flaming cheese was as fun & delicious as I remember it) and then to TED DREWES for dessert. The Great Pumpkin concrete was everything I imagined--a slice of pumpkin pie mixed into rich frozen custard, big chunks of pie crust . . . Maybe I did go to St. Louis to eat. We certainly did the next morning during our pilgrimage to Uncle Bill's Pancakes for breakfast the next morning before hitting the road back to Springfield.

My father's retirement party was that night, and it was the party of the year. 38 years as a pediatrician, all those dues now paid. Good food, good jazz band--my dad played his trombone for a short set--and good turnout of the people I remember growing up with. Somehow it didn't seem strange to be an equal adult with my parents friends & colleagues, and calling people by their first names instead of Mr./Mrs./Dr like I did as a child. I don't understand people who moan & groan about getting older. To me, it feels like I am progressing in life just as I should be.

It was so wonderful to see everyone & revisit the great places we used to visit. I was also choked up with nostalgia when we cruised our old neighborhood in St. Louis. I have said goodbye to so many wonderful people & nice places in my 38 years. Some of these of course are inevitable & even happy times, like graduations, and we can continue connections with people no matter where we are if we make the effort. But it made me realize that I don't want to move on any more. Southern New England is my home now, and we're staying.

I must have a scriptwriter

Some days I feel so overwhelmed with two needy children glommed onto me. I told my husband that I feel like one of those mother dogs with ten puppies clambering all over her. About 20 minutes after that conversation, I was nursing Meredith in bed & Sylvia came in to play with an armload of stuffed animals:

Woof.

In knitting news, I finished a baby sweater & actually got it to the intended baby before he outgrew it. Luckily it was in a nice stretchy garter stitch--he's a pretty big boy.

I call myself a novice knitter because I stick to pretty simple patterns. Maybe I'll attempt something more complicated this winter if the puppies give me a break.

Brand New

I'll christen my new blog with a post about my new baby. Meredith Elizabeth arrived on 8/23/07, 1 week late but perfect in every way.

Here she is on Day One with her big sister Sylvia, who has just turned 4 years old.