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"In this tempestuous, havoc-ridden world of ours, all real communication comes from the heart."

- Etty Hillesum

August 11, 2006

The travels.

Had an OB visit today � 22 weeks. The baby is perfectly wonderfully excellent. I�ve gained somewhere between 6 and 10 pounds (the OB�s scale says 6, my scale says 10 � I like the 6 number better but the 10 is probably more honest). My blood pressure is a healthy 105/72. The baby�s heart rate was excellent � in the 150s. She was kicking mercilessly at the Doppler, which was making us all laugh. �She�s like this ALL the time,� I said. And it�s true. This baby is a total rock and roll baby � she�s a mover and a shaker.

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So Blue and I went on a relatively impromptu trip to the West Coast this week. He had some business meetings to attend and I tagged along.

The fun started at the airport on our trip out � our flight out was delayed by about 2 hours. We were cool with it (generally we can roll with that kind of thing without getting too bent out of shape). Of course, this meant about 3 extra trips to the bathroom before the flight took off � but that�s okay, I�m used to peeing eleventy times a day anyway.

What I�m not used to, however, is sitting down to pee and having the automatic flush toilet unexpectedly flush � while I�m seated and peeing. It scared the beeeejesus out of me, and I jumped up in alarm.

Ever jumped up from a toilet in mid-pee? Whoops. I peed all over myself!

Darn, I hate it when that happens.

Fortunately it made me laugh way more than it made me mad � so by the time I got cleaned up and back out to our gate I was giggling non-stop. I told Blue the story and he laughed, too.

Overall, the trip was nice. Every hotel in the city was booked up, though, so the place we stayed was not as nice as I had hoped it would be. The room was little small, and kind of ugly. (It was clean, though, which counts for a lot.)

No business meetings on our first day there, so we rented a convertible and drove to the coast. I saw the ocean, which was my goal, so then we headed off on a gorgeous drive through a redwood forest. There were no other cars on this road and the scenery was absolutely incredible!

On our second day I spent time hobnobbing with the wives while my husband was in his meeting. I turned on the charm. I schmoozed. I wore myself out being nice.

On the third day, I found a nice park where I could sit and read a book for a few hours. I did a bunch of people-watching, which was fantastic. There was a large fountain area in the park that kids were playing in. It looked kind of like this one:

I watched a group of about 20 kids from a day camp playing in and around the water. The counselors kept shouting, �Try not to get too wet, please!� But the message was going unheeded. In fact, several kids got the bright idea that they could overpower the counselors � so all twenty swarmed the counselors one by one and dragged them into the fountain, getting the counselors all soaking wet. It was hilarious!

After they left the fountain it was much less interesting � so I went back to reading my book. It was a gorgeous day, the weather was perfect, and I was totally at peace.

I got hungry after a few hours and recalled a McDonald�s nearby. I went there to get the fruit and walnut salad ($2.99 for a cut-up apple, five grapes and some walnuts � it�s a rip-off but I get it regularly because it�s not junk food and it�s convenient).

As I was walking into the McDonald�s I passed a homeless guy who was sitting by the door. �Spare some food for a brother?� he asked, eyes on the ground.

�Sure,� I said. This guy was thin as a rail � he looked as though he hadn�t had a thousand calories in his belly in a long time. �It�s no good to be hungry,� I said. �What do you want for lunch?�

His face lit up and he thought for a minute. �Could I � could I come in and look at what they got?� he asked.

�Absolutely!� I said.

He got up, opened the door and held it for me. We walked in together and I said, �Anything you want � name it.�

�Could I have a number two?� (that�s the quarter-pounder meal, where you get fries and a drink.)

�Sure, what do you want to drink?� I asked.

�Oh boy! A Sprite!� he said.

�I�ll bring it to ya.�

I went up, ordered fruit and iced tea for me, and the number two for him. They put them in separate bags, I grabbed some napkins and straws, and headed back outside to find my friend.

�Here you go,� I said, handing him a bag. �You might want to double check that I gave you the right one � you don�t want my fruit!�

He laughed. He had tears in his eyes. �Thanks,� he said.

�Anytime.�

And I took my fruit and my iced tea and went back to read more of my book.

I feel incredibly blessed in my life. I have everything I ever wanted or needed. I have a family that loves me. A baby on the way. A secure future. It was nothing for me to spend $4 on food for someone else � and I hope he enjoyed his food. He was a sweet guy who isn�t as lucky as I am � I hope he had a better day after meeting me � that his hunger went away � at least for a little while.

The end of our travels was mostly uneventful. The fun new airline security issues were in place by the time we got to the airport on Thursday � but apart from giving up my hand sanitizer, travel was no different than usual.

I was happy to be home � happy to see the dogs and cats � happy to sleep in my own bed last night!


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Last Few Entries

Back? - November 10, 2007
Just a break. - June 19, 2007
Caddy day in the pool. - June 05, 2007
Sleep! And sleep, and sleep! - June 01, 2007
Happy days are here again ... - May 30, 2007

� More about Etty Hillesum, the woman in the photo.�