Waitin' on a woman (and a girl)

My mom used to drive my dad crazy as she was always and forever late. She'd come home late from work, she'd be the last one in the car for family trips or even to go to church. She always had one more thing to do, one more thing to get, to search for, to unplug, to turn off. I can even remember her doing her nails in the car once, as in painting them. That's no easy task. My dad would wait, sometimes patiently, sometimes impatiently, sweating, pacing, not wanting to be late as he was always on military time, which is about 10 minutes early to everything. It drove him mad and at the same time I know he found it deeply endearing. He would wait in the car and honk the horn which made her crazy, she'd run around frantic and then I think at certain times she'd slow down even more just to maybe piss him off a little. In a loving way of course. He was always the first one showered and dressed for wherever we were off to and like I said he could sweat in below zero weather so nine times of ten he'd pace and sweat a little, always wiping his brow with a look of, "geez Mar, what is taking sooo long" frustration.

I headed to Slingerlands this afternoon with my wonderfully supportive sister-in-law and nephew in tow for a level 2 ultrasound. They needed to check for some genetic disorders and while I know this is fairly routine, as it seems to happen to everyone I know and happened to me when I was pregnant with Luke, to say I was not a tad nervous would be a lie. We're leaving for Maine this weekend which I am so incredibly anxious for and at the same time once again saddened with the fact that my dad isn't here to see Luke kick his feet in the crashing surf. So while driving into work this morning thinking of all of this and thankful for all that I have I heard this song. I was listening and thinking my dad could so relate and was smiling and laughed a little, and then the last bit of lyrics were sung and I almost had to pull over. I was bawling, nose running, tears streaming. It felt good to cry and it felt sad at the same time. It also felt comforting, like my dad was telling me, "she's not ready yet, she's still got things to do and I can wait. I might be pacing the halls of heaven but she's worth waiting for."

So we'll enjoy the sand and surf next week and think of you.

Now to the delicious news of the day and to end on a high-note, we're waitin' on a girl!!! Eek. A healthy, kicking, active little girl scheduled to arrive in mid October.

A girl.






Sittin' on a bench at West Town Mall
He sat down in his overalls and asked me
You waitin' on a woman
I nodded yeah and said how 'bout you
He said son since nineteen fifty-two I've been
Waitin' on a woman

When I picked her up for our first date
I told her I'd be there at eight
And she came down the stairs at eight-thirty
She said I'm sorry that I took so long
Didn't like a thing that I tried on
But let me tell you son she sure looked pretty
Yeah she'll take her time but I don't mind
Waitin' on a woman

He said the wedding took a year to plan
You talk about an anxious man, I was nervous
Waitin' on a woman
And then he nudged my arm like old men do
And said, I'll say this about the honeymoon, it was worth it
Waitin' on a woman

And I don't guess we've been anywhere
She hasn't made us late I swear
Sometimes she does it just 'cause she can do it
Boy it's just a fact of life
It'll be the same with your young wife
Might as well go on and get used to it
She'll take her time 'cause you don't mind
Waitin' on a woman

I've read somewhere statistics show
The man's always the first to go
And that makes sense 'cause I know she won't be ready
So when it finally comes my time
And I get to the other side
I'll find myself a bench, if they've got any
I hope she takes her time, 'cause I don't mind
Waitin' on a woman

Honey, take your time, cause I don't mind
Waitin' on a woman

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

So within 24 hours of posting my semi-desperate-please-invite-us-on-your-boat plea we have been offered to join two separate groups of friends on their respective boats.

We are not worthy! But thank you, thank you!

This Sunday we'll be joining our lovely babysitter and her family of 6 on their boat and at their campsite. Her husband (and some of their kids) has been camping and boating near none other than Shelving Rock since last week. So this weekend we'll be one of those lolly-gagging groups of boaters that I was oh so jealous of last week.

In August we'll hopefully get to hang out with Vicki and Anthony and some of the other very fun, new parent-former Price Chopper advertising team on the great Sacandaga.

Yay for good friends and beautiful lakes.

To top it all off, John is out playing tennis tonight with a friend and Luke is sound asleep. I am sitting in a clean living room with freshly painted toenails, watching Last Comic Standing, savoring a Lindy's Italian Lemon Ice and thoroughly enjoying the peace and quiet.

Life is grand.

Thanks for the honesty

Tonight I went shopping with my mom and grandmother for a bridal shower gift for one of my cousins. After wandering the aisles of Target for a clock and some bedding (and of course more diapers for Mr. Luke) we went to the 99 restaurant for dessert. I'm not a fan of chain restaurants, but it was easy for Gram to get to so, sure, the 99 sounded great. My mom dropped us off as close to the door as possible so that Gram wouldn't have to use her walker and then she went to park the car. As the two of us were walking into the mall, Gram slipped her arm through mine and whispered, "I think we're definitely going to have a girl this time!" She's been begging for another girl from one of her grandchildren. There are 5 of us, 4 of of us are married (with 1 about to be in September) and so far we've given her 6 great-grandsons and only 1 great-granddaughter.

So then she proceeds with, "You carry a girl in the front and a boy in the back, and you're carrying all in the front this time."

"Oh, so did I carry all in the back with Luke?" I ask.

"No, you carried Luke ALL OVER!" She proclaimed and then laughed.

At least I never have to know what she's really thinking.

Belated Happy Fourth

We've been a tad bored at the Stevens family camp as of late. Most of our friends are in the same boat as us, happily saddled with babies, and young kids who need naps, routine and early bed times, which leaves little to no room for fun times outside of your air conditioned walls. So when July 4th was upon us and everyone else seemed to have plans (woe is us, I know, I know) we threw the nap out the window, loaded "The Bro" with supplies (aka swimmy diapers, regular diapers, wipes, BPA-free water bottles, bananas, and the like) and headed to Shelving Rock.

We "hiked" in from our parking spot and meandered our way along the water, braving the skantily clad party-goers with their red plastic Solo cups of whatever. I gawked at the boaters lazily spending their day bobbing and speeding on the Lake and watched Luke in awe of the water lapping over the rocks. Ah summer.

"We need a boat," I told John. He retorted with, "we need friends with a boat". True, that would be sweet.

Anyone got a boat we can hang out on some weekend?