Been awhile

It's been some time since I wrote anything substantial here. No excuses really, just a really bad case of self-absorption as the baby's arrival becomes more imminent and all I think about is "Are we ready?" There are still vestiges of our move hanging about - a few small empty boxes, some items casually left where they were put down when we moved them but not in any place of their own, no pictures on the walls, etc. Hopefully we will take care of those things this weekend. This Sunday I officially hit the 37 week mark which means if he's born anytime after Sunday he's considered full term. He's definitely moving around a lot and I have been trying to see if I am clever enough to determine which body parts I am feeling pushing against me. I can't believe I am going to be a parent. I've had feelings of panic lately, wondering if it's too late. It's like that moment of panic you have when you get on a really scary roller coaster ride - the bar comes down and the car starts to move and you think to yourself "Oh no, what have I done?" But at least you know you only have to make it through the next 2-3 minutes before you are back on solid ground. One doesn't get that comfort with parenthood. In fact, I imagine it only gets worse for awhile as the child learns to crawl, then walk, then run. At that point they can really hurt themselves. They can get hit by cars, they start school and can have people be mean to them, they become teenagers and we all know only too well the kind of trouble that translates to. Rich is already worrying about the assortment of drugs available to any young person in Washington Square Park a mere two blocks away. This from the man who starts every high school story with: "This one time when we got really high...".

So, those are the thoughts that consume me these days. That and I really hope I can breastfeed successfully. Fascinating, I know. In the meantime, there have been some good times had as the summer came to a close. I sat in line for 7 hours outside The Public Theatre to get free tickets to see Meryl Streep in Mother Courage. She did not disappoint. I'm very happy to say that I have seen her on stage. Kevin Kline too. He can pretty much do no wrong. He's doing King Lear at The Public this fall and I am hoping to find a way to go to that because it's one of my favorite plays and I would love to see him tackle that role.

We also went to Deana and Mike's wedding in the Catskills over Labor Day. Hurricane Ernesto made an unwelcome appearance in the form of relentless wind and rain but they had a great time anyway and now they can just relax and prepare to be parents themselves.

What else? We hung out with Karen and Ralph a lot last weekend which was nice since we hadn't seen much of them in a couple of weeks. I spent every morning of this past week volunteering for KEXP while John Richards was in town broadcasting his show live. That was really fun and I am so glad I am able to help out since I can't volunteer at the station anymore. It's truly a great station full of people passionate about good music and I encourage everyone to listen to them - on the dial at 90.3 in Seattle or at kexp.org everywhere else.

OK, I think that's enough catching up for one entry. I will try not to let so much time go by next time. Here's the most recent belly shot from Deana & Mike's wedding. It's kind of hard to see it but you can get the idea: