What The Bean, N. and I Would Be Doing 2/25 if We Wasn't So Far, Far Away

Okay, we wouldn't actually be in the pool. We'd be at MOMA (yes, the Museum of Modern Art) watching our coolest, filmiest friend's documentary Sync or Swim. What, you didn't know the U.S. had its very own synchronized swim team? Get thee to the MOMA, friend!

Mark your calendars: FEBRUARY 25, 2009 @ 6:00 PM. MOMA.

And tell Auntie C if you see her that The Bean(and co.) wants a screening in Lebanon ASAP!!!

Lest Auntie C get in trouble, the above pic is a still from her movie, but we found it on the Internets.

Marvelous!

Check out Bill Cunningham's inaugural experience.

It's Been A Long Time Coming....

But we made it. Here's to a new day, America.

Friday Books!!

Yes, it's Friday and yes, there are books to be blogged. I would also like to say that with the windchill it's -23 degrees here in NH, but, out of the goodness of heart, I have not yet filed for divorce.

But back to the books.

About six weeks ago I read The Gathering by Anne Einright. My high school English teacher/ friend recommended it quite highly. I will say that it was quite readable---Einright is a good, somewhat lyrical writer. As the book itself--I guess I'd give it a B+. I really didn't like the narrator and although a likable narrator isn't at all a requirement for a good book, in this particular case, the narrator came off so selfish and just wanting to lick her wounds it sort of held me back a bit. I don't want to be a spoiler, but suffice it to say, one major plot point seemed a bit over done and almost, sad to say, cliche.

But, don't listen to me! It won the 2007 Man/Booker and everyone else I know really liked it.

The other book I read was the 2008 Man/Booker winner The White Tiger by I'm too lazy to go upstairs to get it so just google it if you're that interested. This book is basically about the class divide in contemporary India. What's interesting is that for the first 50-75 pages I really disliked the narrator because he's so obnoxious and self-involved and hard to relate to. But then after the first 75 pages or so I changed my mind. I realized he had a right to be obnoxious and self-involved and of course I couldn't relate to him because I'm white and in America and certainly "rich" by his standards. The book got more interesting the more I read and I've thought a lot about since finishing it yesterday.

Oh...yesterday! The Bean took 3! naps...each one over an hour. And then she slept from 6:40-2:00 AM! But today. Well, let's just say I'm not reading much today. I am going to make some hot chocolate cuz baby it's cold outside.

Happy Weekend.

Back in Town With Another Rambling Post!

We're back in snowy NH. And actually it's not too bad. Today is N.'s first day back at work in like a month! He got an extended break because his school was out of power from the massive ice storm that hit in December. He's not teaching, but the boy needs to get prepared for the start o' classes, which is next week. Today The Bean and I went to Mommy Doesn't Do Yoga Because Baby Needs Some Love and then to lunch with some of the moms. It feels good to be in a routine. I think once Beanie can sit on her own yoga will get more done. She gets cranky on her belly/back for too long because she want to sit or stand or bounce.

Even better than being home? We might be getting Miss Bean a babysitter! It's been hard to find one up here mostly because I suspect people don't like to share. Anyway, we're meeting her tomorrow and hopefully if all goes well N. and I could go out and do something one of these nights! Whooo hooo!

Less happy is that The Bean had her first fall yesterday. We were up at Winter Fest in Fairlee, VT. N. was wearing the baby in the Ergo when he took a spill on the frozen lake. She's fine and so he's but both were shaken up. Man, were there some tears. And some projectile spit up, which I don't think was related. But N. really needs to start digesting his food better.

Speaking of food, did you know Bean's mama is on a diet? Okay, not like a diet-diet, but I realized that eating with/without abandon (is that the expression? mom?) is not helping the tummy. It's still cool for me to eat alot (a nursing mom needs 1,000 extra calories compared to a pregnant mom who needs a mere 500), but I'm trying to just eat smarter. Like no more cookies or fries three times a week. Bummer for me, right? But still, bikini season is right around the corner....

How more random can we make this post? Oh! We bought chairs! 6 of them for our dining room! I can't wait for them to arrive.

And, last but not least, darling N. bought me a fabulous desk for Hannukah! No longer will I be blogging while slumped on the couch. I'm a lady writing at her desk. Thanks again, N. Best. Gift. Ever.

5!! Months! And 5 Days! And Couting!!

The Bean is a whopping 5 months and 5 days today. We would've posted sooner, but we've been Big Apple busy. Now we're in Southern Florida, where's it's a beautiful 78 degrees! Needless to say we are not excited to return to New Hampshire where it's 18 degrees. We are ready to go home though. We've been gone along time and a certain someone needs to get on a more consistent nap schedule.

Anyway, as usual The Bean is rocking her 5 monthness. To celebrate she got some multi-grain cereal, which she totally dug. She also got to ride on an airplane, which she also rocked. And she got to meet her great-grandmother, which was pretty cool.

To celebrate The Bean's 5 month and 5 dayness, N. and I are leaving her with the grandparents tonight and going to get me a Margarita. I'm sick (again) but how much worse will one cold, boozy beverage make me?

We fly back to NYC tomorrow and leave Friday morning for cold and snowy NH.

Oh, and happy 2009! The Bean thinks it's gonna be a good one.

Heading South

So, tomorrow morning we're going to load up Stanley and drive down to NYC. We looking forward to meeting new babies, seeing old friends, eating some Shake Shack, and maybe seeing a movie or two. Then, on the 5th day of the new year, The Bean will be taking her first flight to Florida to meet her great-grandmother. How cool is that?

I'm a tad daunted by going away for 10 days, but things already seem good as The Bean went to sleep with no fuss and, more importantly, N. and I seem to have gotten it together to get the bulk of packing done tonight rather than our usual harried morning packing and cleaning.

I know y'all will be a tad depondant that posting might be a little light in the next ten days. To keep your sprits from dampening too much, I'll leave you with another image of N. and the crazy new stroller he got in the snow.



Makes you feel a bit better doesn't it?

CONGRATULATIONS BETH AND SUSIE!!!!

I don't think these kids even read my blog before the birth of their son so there's no chance they will now now that their darling boy has finally made his appearance. But still I thought I'd give the new family of 3 some blog love! Their son was born on December 22, was 21 inches long and weighed a whopping 8 pounds! Since I don't name my own kid, I certainly won't name theirs but N., The Bean, and I are all so super excited to meet The Frog when we're back in Brooklyn (whooo hooo!!!) next week!

If you happen to see Beth and Susie and their son before we do make sure to give them some non-cyber loves!

SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW and GUESS WHAT? MORE SNOW!

So, winter has happened. And it's ugly. It snowed for something like 69 out of the last 72 hours. I know this firsthand, actually because when I wasn't changing a diaper or nursing The Bean, I was looking out the window and watching it snow. This is the extent of the conversation in our house over the weekend.
Me: It's still snowing.
N.: You can't keep saying that. It's getting old.
Me: I know. Snow is getting real old, real fast. And you know what it's not even officially winter! What am I going to be like in two months? Three? Where did we move to? How is it possible that it's STILL snowing?
N. walks out of the room to get The Bean who is screaming not because she's hungry or tired or wet but because there's so much snow.
Twenty minutes later....
Me: It's still snowing!
N. You can't keep saying that. It's getting old.
And so on and so forth ad nauseum.

We got around 2 feet of snow here since Friday. 2! Feet!
Completely unrelated to the snow, but no less tragic is that N. ran over the baby's stroller. Really. There was so much snow to get off his car that he completely forgot it was in the driveway and wham. Luckily the Bean wasn't in the stroller and luckily she has two back ups, but still. Snow makes good people neglectful parents.

Anyway, we're off to the Adirondacks for The Bean's first 1/2 Jewish Xmas. Apparently there's slightly less snow over there. Bah humbug!

Is a Lame Post Better Than No Post At All?

Probably not, but who cares. The Bean and I both got colds over the weekend. A cold is a bummer in general. Having to get up a lot to nurse with a cold is even more of a bummer. But it's worstest for The Bean since she can't blow her nose and her dad has suck up her snots with a bulby thing that he puts up her nose. Ouch! We're both on the mend though.

I wish I could say the same for the weather. We had a major ice storm, which you probably heard about. We got super lucky that our power was only out for about 9 hours and most of that was during the very early morning. Hundreds of thousands of people were without power for DAYS! N.'s school had to postpone finals till after the holidays since they were powerless and couldn't heat the dorms. So N. got an extra week to hang with his ladies in the daytime, the lucky man. The storm did teach us a lesson and we went out and got some flashlights and shotguns. You know, just to be prepared.

It snowed yesterday and it's going to snow tomorrow. And soon this blog will be nothing but rants against snow. I'm that will really build the blog's readership.

On a positive note, I got my eyebrows waxed this morning for the first time in months. There's nothing like a little personal grooming to weather a bad storm.