un-freaking believable

I know I spend a good deal of time bitching about the weather where I live. I live in Southeast Michigan, and have for most of my life, but today really beat the band.

Today I turned 36 years old, and when I woke up this morning, there was at least 2 inches of snow on the ground. Need I remind mother nature that this is the END of April? Should I also mention that on Tuesday of last week we had dinner outside on our deck in balmy 78 degree weather? THIS IS CRAZY! I really can't take it. Check out the rather pathetic photo of me and my birthday card on the back deck taken earlier today.

happy birthday to me. 

It's only April, and yet there is still football 

nothing'severgonnastandinmyway(again)

My client had her baby yesterday morning. I got the call around 2am. I was pretty sleepy and misunderstood that she had actually been in labor most of the evening. It sounded at first like she had only been in labor for 2 hours. Anyway, she called me back after about an hour and I headed over. We got to the hospital about 4:30am and the baby was born a little after 6am. Her baby was big, over 10 pounds, but everyone did well. I will go do a post partum visit tomorrow.

Had a big weekend, lots of company. Eric and Jodi and their daughter Rachel visited Wed through Friday. The adults went to see David Sedaris on Thursday night at the Michigan Theatre. Then Josh came in to attend the open spring practice at Michigan Stadium. The boys all had fun. Check out the picture above.

It has gotten really nice here. Today is supposed to be around 80! I will be working in my garden. I don't really have a green thumb, but I pretend to have one.

I endured a level of hell today...

I went on a field trip with my daughter's preschool class to our local children's museum. The problem started when I woke up at 5 am and could not fall back asleep. Then, as a driver and chaperone on the field trip I was responsible for 4 children. I have 2 kids of my own, so my husband and I are usually on a man-to-man defense when we attend this museum. I am not used to playing zone defense, especially with 3 kids who don't belong to me. It was loud, exhausting, and I never did get my morning coffee. I left with a splitting headache. And as an added bonus, as we were leaving, darling Brooke decided she did NOT want to hold on to the loop rope like all the other kids. Yikes!

Anyway, we are home now-- fed, (somewhat) rested and fully caffeinated. What are the odds I will get a call to attend a birth tonight? Considering all the above I bet they are pretty good.

Doulicia-- I love the book questions, I am formulating my answers for a future post. Thanks!

thoughts on the Pope

We had some friends over for dinner last night, and my friend Seth asked about my thoughts on the Pope. While I was growing up I was raised catholic. I haven't been to church in years and now consider myself a very lapsed catholic. However, I still feel incredible bonds to the religion. Being a lapsed Catholic, I am not a particularly religious person these days, but I did (and still do) find the ritualistic nature of mass very comforting and the traditions of the church fascinating. Mass itself is very theatrical! The priests in costumes, the fantastic sets (altar), the incredible props, ie the incense burners and beautiful chalis for wine ( I particularly like the very fancy gold thing that they put the eucharist host in, especially around Easter time. I can't remember the name of it, sorry). No wonder I was drawn to the theatre as my original career.

I remember when Pope John Paul II was elected. I knew nothing of the steps and traditions involved that go toward electing pope. The only thing I knew was black smoke meant there was no pope yet and white smoke meant there was. The parish I attended in Detroit, St. Christopher was a polish one. I gotta tell you the place freaked when Karol Wojtyla was named pope. (The first non-Italian pope in almost 500 years!) They celebrated and paraded through the halls, they even cancelled school! So Pope John Paul II has always given me that warm fuzzy snow day type feeling. Sometime in the mid 80's a friend of our family went to Rome and brought back a papal blessing for my family. (So I figure I got that going for me). I was honestly sad when he died. I huddled around the TV watching and waiting to hear news of his death while my husband looked on befuddled. I have to say that I even prayed, not the down-on-my-knees-type- prayer, but a prayer none the less. I thought his wishes to die in his apartment in the Vatican stood in stark contrast to the circus that surrounded the Terri Shaivo mess only a few days earlier.