First pregnancy v. Second pregnancy

I'm such a sucker. During my entire pregnancy with Nora, two years ago, I thought people were crazy. Pregnancy was easy! Bring on the brood of six kids if this was all it took! I didn't have morning sickness, back pain, swelling or (super) excessive weight gain. All of the other pregnant women out there are just lazy whiners. 

Fast forward two years and I'm in a prenatal yoga class. At the beginning of class, the instructor has us introduce ourselves and asks us to mention any problems we're having with our pregnancies. Each woman breezily reports "everything's great, I feel great, I love being pregnant." And then it's my turn. Hmmm. Where do I start? Back pain, heart burn, bulging, painful and oh-so-attractive varicose veins that run from my feet to well, you don't want to know where, and lastly, the bone-numbing fatigue that was supposed to go away at 12 weeks but didn't. I realize I am very lucky to have a big, active baby boy in there, and I am counting my blessings, especially when Nora says, "baby!" and lifts up my shirt to share her sippy cup or pacifier with this little unborn brother of hers, but I am really looking forward to February 10th.

Differences between pregnancy #1 and pregnancy #2

#1: I felt cute. Maybe I read too much Celebrity Baby Blog, but I felt right up there with Kerri Russell and Jennifer Garner.

#2: Now I feel like a whale. People make comments like, "Whoa, that baby's coming any day now, huh?" when in fact, he is due in three months. Also, my husband swears I'm pregnant with twins.

Ok, that's it for now. I'll post more later when I'm not so tired!

An afternoon in the 'burbs

Tonight we dragged the kid out to the 'burbs for some outlet shopping in Wrentham and dinner in Foxboro. I have a few things to say about the outing. First, the outlets were packed. I thought we were being smart by avoiding the Black Friday crowds, but the parking lot was absolutely jammed. But, back to my point, or my father's point (he actually pointed this out to me)-- what recession? It was total mayhem. Cars stalking shoppers around the parking lot hoping to find a spot, people just giving up and parking illegally (actually that was us), screaming babies (um, that was us too). Ok, so maybe we were just total mayhem, but I was extremely surprised at how many people were there shopping their brains out.

Next, we went to the new Patriot Place by Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. Again-- a few thoughts, mainly, where the heck was this place in the early 90s? My teen years would've been so much cooler if Patriot Place was around. Ok, maybe not, but it's pretty crazy. Parts of it are still under construction, and we spent a fair amount of time driving around vast, empty sections of the stadium parking lot looking for the restaurant where we wanted to eat. We followed these crazy bright, flashing lights and we found it--CBS Scene, a monstrosity which requires you to climb something like eight steep flights of stairs to enter (we took the elevator). 

Once you're in, it's sensory overload. Millions of TVs are blaring various programming from, yep, you guessed it, CBS. It's definitely my least favorite of networks, and it's slightly strange that they're in the restaurant business, but we left very happy. Each booth has a flat screen TV that you can control, which is right up our alley at this stage in our lives. Nora was fascinated and didn't fuss once during dinner. I was able to scarf down my Kobe beef burger in an uninterrupted, glorious six minutes flat. I did notice there were moments during which the three of us were just staring at the screen while David Letterman introduced some wacky college kid who invented a refrigerator that can toss you a beer-- ah, quality family time at the dinner table. Kinda sad if you think about it, but hey- we have a toddler and I'll take a few minutes of quiet where I can get it. At least that is what I tell my guilty-mom self.

15 minutes a day

The last time I wrote on this blog was in early January. I'm revisiting it now as a way to get writing again. I no longer edit New England Sports magazine, and am a full-time mom, and I realize how lucky I am to be able to stay home full-time with Nora. However, I have started to itch to do something else besides plan naps, playground trips and playdates. 

I read a book today about writing that said to set a timer and write 15 minutes a day to warm up your brain and get in the writing groove. Fifteen minutes doesn't sound so bad, right? Except when your 22-month-old falls asleep for a measly 10 minutes in the car this morning, and then counts that as her nap for the day. I have spent almost the entire day working toward the Holy Grail of a napping toddler. I finally succeeded after four tries. It's so late now, she'll probably be up watching Letterman tonight, and our whole week will be shot. But I don't have that kind of foresight. All I know is I needed at least 45 minutes to myself, today. Which, I now blissfully have.

So...the elephant in this blog is what's happened since my last post. Hmmm, let's see. A month later my mother was diagnosed with stage IV melanoma, I got pregnant, miscarried, got pregnant soon after, and my mother died in September. That's the abbreviated version, obviously, and I don't really feel the need to delve too deep at this point. Especially, since my 15 minutes is up... 

Boston Marathon?

So I got a Boston Marathon number through work today. I had been thinking about trying to run recently for a few reasons. 

1. It's been a life-long dream

2. I'm becoming a fat slob who subsist on coffee, chocolate, wine and cheese. And I am not exaggerating here. 

3. So, I thought having a goal like the Boston Marathon would whip me back into shape. 

I really enjoyed thinking these thoughts, but when I actually got word that I would get a number, I thought, "Oh, crap." Wait a second-- I don't want to start training for a marathon!!! Whose idea was this? And then I realized, I really like thinking about things I might possibly do someday, such as become more dedicated to running and run the marathon, write a book, and do more yoga more often. I like thinking about it, talking about it, reading web sites about it. But when it gets down to actually doing it, eek, well that's another issue.