it’s not about you

This is just not right.

On Monday, Joshua and I picked up Shannon, who was in the Big D on her way to London, from Mark and Dawn’s house and took her to Starbucks for coffee. I had found out Monday morning about the earthquake and tsunami from Kausar’s blog and was telling Joshua about it, as he hadn’t heard about it yet.

When we got into Starbucks, I picked up a New York Times from the newsstand to show Joshua the map of how far the tsunami’s waves had reached. “It’s the biggest earthquake in years. See,” I said, pointing at the front-page map, “the center of the earthquake was here on the tip of Sumatra, and waves reached all over Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka.”

At that point, the woman behind the counter said, “We’re serving Sumatra as our coffee of the day today.”

OH. MY. GOD.

I cried. Not much, but I did cry. We met Joshua’s parents halfway between our house and theirs (at a Dairy Queen in Italy — the halfway point, not their house…) and passed her over. There was much instruction and Judah-speak translation and me thinking I needed to tell them something else but couldn’t remember what it was. After they strapped her in her car seat in their car, I leaned over to give her kisses and tell her I loved her and would see her tomorrow, and to have fun with Nana and Papa. She avoided my lips, caught a glimpse of her Cheerio cup and said, “Dooce?” And that was that.

Tonight is our annual date night, in which Joshua and I go out to eat at a fancy restaurant. Tonight we are going to Nana, the uber-classy restaurant on the top floor of the >Wyndham-Anatole. I went there once for dessert with some friends and loved it; decided I had to go back.

Right now, we’re wrapping presents and getting ready and bathing the dog and trying to pack. Hope all of you out there in internet land have fun tonight, whatever you’re doing. I know we will.

it actually snowed today. i don’t think I could be more excited.

The last time it snowed in Dallas was Valentine’s Day. Joshua was still working at Cafe Brazil and we were living in the loft. I bundled up Judah and we met our neighbor and Leah to take pictures of Judah’s First Snow.

Judah wasn’t too appreciative of our attempts to make her like snow. It’s hard to convince a 9-month old that no, really, even though it’s cold and wet, you’ll like it, I promise. That was also the day Joshua decided to quit Cafe Brazil and begin his design career.

Today the snow started midmorning while I was at work. Patients started calling to cancel their appointments and the mood around the office was cheery. I kept calling home to inform my family that it was SNOWING and they should go outside. Then I would call back to ask them, my God, why were they not yet outside where it was SNOWING? We weren’t as productive as we should have been at the office. But BY GOLLY, IT WAS SNOWING. I came home at lunchtime and we put the munchkin down for a nap. After she woke up we went outside and played in the snow. Judah pretty much stood in one place, not able to turn her head for her GIANT WINTER COAT ( I can’t put my arms down), asking over and over for Cheerios. But it’s SNOWING! Run around! Play! “Dooce?” she asked. Dooce is Judah-speak for Cheerios.

Joshua created a snowman in our flowerbed, complete with raisin eyes and a carrot nose (and don’t worry, it’s not NEAR as phallic as it was when he started). Corky wasn’t too impressed, with the snow or the snowman. His feelings can be summed up by, “Holy shit! What’s wrong with you people? Don’t you realize it’s cold and wet out here? Take me back inside!”

We then proceeded to Whole Foods to buy milk for hot chocolate and stopped by Blockbuster for a movie. We rented The Day After Tomorrow. Quite appropriate for a snow day, I might add (plot: global warming reaches the point where the polar ice caps melt and bring about the next ice age). I love disaster films. I know they’re predictable and drawn out. That’s the beauty. You always know what to expect.

We’ve now done the dishes and laundry, bathed the girl and put her to bed and are watching the news about how it’s going to be EIGHTEEN DEGREES TONIGHT! I’m so excited. Maybe it will stay like this all winter. Considering yesterday we had the patio door open and the heaters off and Judah was running around barefoot, I wouldn’t mind freezing temps for a few months. Make these Texans appreciate all the damn warm weather.

IT’S SNOWING!

(all the photos with today’s snow are from Joshua’s venture out with Judah this morning while I was a at work. Pictures of Judah in the Giant Coat are still in the film camera.)

The only redeeming quality about joshua being sick the past couple of days is that he feels great just in time for my 3-minute rounds in the bathroom. I think judah started it, after all, she was the one who puked and got the runs first.

yesterday was pure torture. between having to wash the entire bathroom, not to mention the sheets, of all of their putrescence, and dealing with a dehydrated toddler, i was about to go nuts. i had to force water in judah, one teaspoon every five minutes, set to the timer on the microwave, to which she would close up her mouth and spit every drop back out at me. i think she hates me. she finally started to wet her diapers, though. I was starting to get worried.

i was very much looking forward to going to work today, to regain some sense of sanity, until i woke up at seven this morning, burning up and nauseous. I hate vomiting. i think this is why i don’t look forward to getting pregnant again. there was SO MUCH vomiting. i managed to stave off the vomit until around 3:30 this afternoon. i don’t think i’ll ever drink vanilla rice milk again for the rest of my life. see, rice milk is really good for when you’ve got the runs, not so much for a stomach virus.

joshua has just returned with saltines, ginger ale, and chicken noodle soup, and there is a toddler climbing up the side if my bed, begging me, “Nur?” i must go and give her the mom juice.

i hope you don’t get what we have.

Currently Reading:
Motherless Daughters: The Legacy of Loss by Hope Edelman

Also currently crying about once every five minutes.

Currently in queue:
Eve’s Revenge: Women and a Spirituality of the Body by Lilian Calles Barger

Houses That Change the World by Wolfgang Simpson

Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower, book 6) by Stephen King

The Dark Tower (The Dark Tower, Book 7) by Stephen King

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser

I was reading The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead by Max Brooks, but I had to stop because I started dreaming about being chased by zombies.

I’ve decided that Judah’s diaper creme smells like eggnog.