32
I couldn't really have asked for more on my birthday: a healthy baby who is so good at nursing, sleeping and screaming. She turned 5 weeks today, and we both celebrated our respective birthdays by nursing every 15 minutes. She's gaining an ounce a day; I wish I were losing an ounce a day. I'm still ten pounds heavier than I ever was in my life, and that's twenty pounds heavier than I've been for the last ten years... one day I hope to fit back into my wardrobe, but for now I am still limited to the early maternity hand-me-down clothes I never expected to wear so long.
When I worked at Energetics in 2002, I thought maybe I'd eventually go to medical school and become a doctor. I finished up my pre-med classes at GW with an evening physics class, and started looking into taking the MCAT. Then I realized I would be 32 years old before I finished with it all, and decided that I wanted a family before then. I dropped the medical plans and went to SAIS instead -- a shorter and very different path. And now, as unplanned as Iola was in the conscious brain, here I am, 32 with a family and just in time.
Another note about 32 -- when George Bush was elected in 2004 John and I lived in a basement apartment on Fairmont Street in Columbia Heights, DC, I lamented that I would be 32, 32 before he left office. Such an impossibly long time. Which reminds me of the time I was 8 years old, and tried very hard to imagine what it would be like to be 23. An inevitability, I knew, but so hard to imagine myself as an adult. I was absolutely sure I wouldn't have a boyfriend, but driving a car? Possible.
John and Martha are in Dubai for a couple days; John is working on a story for the new Saturday magazine the National is going to put out; Jackson is mewoing and pawing at my elbow; Iola is asleep (finally!) in our bedroom.
When I worked at Energetics in 2002, I thought maybe I'd eventually go to medical school and become a doctor. I finished up my pre-med classes at GW with an evening physics class, and started looking into taking the MCAT. Then I realized I would be 32 years old before I finished with it all, and decided that I wanted a family before then. I dropped the medical plans and went to SAIS instead -- a shorter and very different path. And now, as unplanned as Iola was in the conscious brain, here I am, 32 with a family and just in time.
Another note about 32 -- when George Bush was elected in 2004 John and I lived in a basement apartment on Fairmont Street in Columbia Heights, DC, I lamented that I would be 32, 32 before he left office. Such an impossibly long time. Which reminds me of the time I was 8 years old, and tried very hard to imagine what it would be like to be 23. An inevitability, I knew, but so hard to imagine myself as an adult. I was absolutely sure I wouldn't have a boyfriend, but driving a car? Possible.
John and Martha are in Dubai for a couple days; John is working on a story for the new Saturday magazine the National is going to put out; Jackson is mewoing and pawing at my elbow; Iola is asleep (finally!) in our bedroom.
Happy Birthday!!! I just called your Skype to leave a message though I knew it would be too late, unless Iola had wokein to keep you up at all hours. I think I'll make cake at home in honor of you ...
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happy birthday rose and iola. quinn is snoozing, we picked blackberries for a pie today. or, i picked them and he yowled about it until he fell asleep. does iola have a mobile? i made one for quinn out of driftwood and shells and origami and stuff, and he really likes it. it is reliably good for 5 minutes of happy crooning several times a day, although he has only had it for two days, so that may not last. another good trick I heard is to have a little blankie to clean up the extra milk from her face and you, and wear it in your shirt or whatever and then give it to them for a little soothing.
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