Things I love about not being pregnant

This list has been running through my head for awhile now. I loved being pregnant, and not being pregnant has opened me up to enjoying things I never thought much about before.

Taking the stairs not the escalator

rediscovering the waist belt on my backpack

walking between tables in a crowded restaurant

tackling small children/picking them up/general rough-housing

eating spicy food and then lying down right away without heartburn. In fact, tomorrow I think I'll eat some spicy food WHILE lying down.

standing on a crowded train without hating every able-bodied looking person sitting in one of those seats that are supposedly reserved for the disabled, aged... and pregnant.

Smelling fumes/Standing near a microwave/feeling angry without a feeling of dread that I'm ruining my offspring

Demim

Hugging people without having to reach over myself to get at them

Sleeping/Reading on my stomach

Not talking to strangers about my condition (although, admittedly, I missed this for the first few weeks)

Tying my shoes with nary a care in the world (although my pregnant shoe-tying skills are very helpful when I'm carrying Simon in the Moby)

Not having to ask Zak for help with really silly things

Urdva Danurasana (Although with my rotator cuff issues, that was a short-lived love affair... but that's another post entirely.)

Riding my bicycle FAST and without being a spectacle.

Kurt Vonnegut didn't have to write all those stories, he could just name off the big idea and say Kilgore Trout wrote it.

Here are the things I thought about writing about today:

The forbidden joy of playing a board game with a friend in the middle of a work day. I was going to work later which only made it feel more decadent and forbidden.

The thrill and challenge of driving through rush hour down town on my bike afterdark, followed by the comfort of the smooth open bike path with one or two little blinking red lights up ahead for company and competition.

The (unusual for me) feeling of giving someone a perfect gift.

The wonder and freedom of a new journal.

The smug eye contact I enjoy sharing with my fellow November in New England cyclist commuters.

How powerfully my time with one true, exhilaratingly fun, thoughtful and delightful friend makes me think about all the others.

But now I’m going to wash the dishes because I’ve been spending a lot of time with friends and family instead of taking care of business lately.

More Spring signs

Disclaimer: While I understand that it could snow in Boston on any day in March or April, I'm celebrating moments of spring-like weather and attitudes as they occur. This may irritate bores, literalists or fuddy-duddies. For instance when Z wore shorts the other day and smiled at a passerbye, she offered (in a grouchy voice) "Don't put away your boots yet!"

Today it reached 50 degrees and I spent a couple of hours walking around in it. I underdressed (Seattle tradition) to get as much sunlight on my skin as possible. It was fantastic to smile at my neighbors as they did errands, strolled around the pond, and generally blossomed. Here are some signs of spring to add to my list....

Pictured:
The hat shop is totally ready to move forward.

Honey Bees! (You may have to look really closely... the Iphone has no zoom.) These bees were buzzing around so merrily in and out of this tree that it made me think of Winnie the Pooh. In that hole, I could see the honeycomb and the entrance to the hive.)

Not pictured: frisky ducks and Canada geese, children drunk with sunshine. My three new springy t-shirts from Boomerang's.

Signs of spring

It's still winter here in Massachusetts, I know. Please don't think I'm fooled by a little sun and weather warm enough for me to leave my gloves and mittens at home, because I'm not.
On the other hand, it's really gorgeous, and my body does not understand that there are still weeks of wintry weather and more snow ahead. My body wants to eat ice cream and fire up the grill and go to the beach and climb trees and things like that... even though I know better.

So here is a list (with some illustrative photos) of signs of spring:
1. The outdoor busking has begun again at Harvard Square (note bagpiper setting down a cup of coffee)
2. Crocuses are blooming, along with snow drops AND there are chirpy little robins bopping around as though they would also like to eat ice cream, and cook out.
3. My cat is lying around in puddles of sunshine on the floor.
4. (Not pictured) I was almost hit by a baseball that was thrown by a child in a Red Sox jersey and just missed the mitt of a young man in a Red Sox jersey.

I'll keep an eye out and post more signs as they show themselves. What are the signs of spring where you live?

News flash

So far... The  biggest differences between Boston and Seattle?

Cyclists here are more likely to be crazy, breaking the law, dressed in street clothes and helmetless.  

One cannot find a cd store if one is more that 3 blocks from a college dormitory.

Ice coffee is sold everywhere.  (But we expected that, didn't we?)

The rain is harder.  I went to NYC to visit my brother and he talked me into buying an umbrella within about 10 minutes.  I can't remember ever having an umbrella.  There's some hazy memory of having one in my childhood, and YES there is that disturbing pink one with a face that I found on my lawn one morning, but I never used it.  So, there it is... I've changed.  I'm an umbrella user who rides her bike on the sidewalk sometimes.  

exhaustedthoughts

I've been working long hours at my job to pack up our school and get ready to move.

It's crazy, man, and I am tired.

I just got an email from my sister (who also works in an early childhood) detailing Schul Sylvester (Or "School New Years") Where Jessy lives, there is an outlawed holiday all about small children getting up at 5 am to celebrate the last day of school before break. Traditionally (it is no longer endorsed by schools or parents) children would ring doorbells at 5pm. Today, while they are not endorsed, kids use fire crackers to explode the doggy-doo receptacles all over town.

As soon as I recieved the email, I called her because this holiday was too good to be true! I talked to Ivo, her husband, who told me that it was much wilder in "his day" and that the police had to start cracking down in the early nineties when it got out of control. He asked me "you remember the corner a block from my parents' house where the grocery is ?" "Of course" I said. "One year some teenagers occupied it and threw chairs at anyone who came near."

My sister lives in a wierd ass country. (Apologies, J & I) We all know stories of Teens gone ape shit that are way more principled or senselessly violent or unprincipled and more harmful. This holiday is at once kinder, gentler and more brutal and independent than any American childhood celebration.

Meanwhile, I spent the week/day packing up a classroom. Think about how hard it is to move with your loved one. It's not as gratifying to move with your coworkers. Although I have to say it is MORE gratifying to move with parent volunteers... these people are showing up until all hours to pack up our stuff.

Now, to bed.
Goodnight.

Holiday plans? ha ha haha hahahaha.
kp