Today was my busy day. As yesterday was a holiday and I'll be out & about tomorrow & Thursday, I thought it would be prudent to stay at home and do some of the chores that've been piling up while we eat turkey in widely spaced locations. Since today was a good day (i.e. the baby left me sleep until 9 a.m.), I had plenty of energy for all of my chore overload. We started out with a quick meal of Thanksgiving leftovers (mmm!) courtesy of my grandmother's Sunday dinner. As soon as I was full of hot savoury stuffing, I stripped the bed & popped in the baby laundry. (Remember, this is the Cute Laundry). Then I got out all of the organic veggies I've been hoarding & started cooking them up for Blake. Oddly enough, Blake didn't take too kindly to spending two hours entertaining himself, so I spent a fair bit of time entertaining, holding, & nursing him in between cooking tasks. He cranked up & fell asleep an hour earlier than usual, so I was able to finish mushing up the veggies without little hands using my track pants to stand up. Then I had lunch: leftovers from Father Silverthumb's Thanksgiving dinner yesterday (mmm!). By the time we headed out for exercise class, I had the sheets & the baby clothes out on the line, two large bowls of mixed veggie purées in the fridge, and a happy (if snotty) little baby ready to make some new friends.

I feel so productive! The downside to all of this is that I didn't have a chance to wash myself. Oh well.

And even if I didn't have a smug glow from my successful chore day, I can still feel special, as the mail has showered me with goodies including the new issue of Hip Mama and a box of tarty clothes from Scherezade. I am now a girl with three corsets. Excuse me: I'm a hip mama with three corsets. And a tiny badass black skirt. And a Jane's Addiction tank top. Yeee!

I have a lot to catch up on from the weekend. I also have a new copy of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell and an unopened bag of sunflower seeds, so I'm highly motivated to get away from the computer. Let's keep this snappy.

Saturday was a busy, packed day. In the morning we took Blake to visit & brunch with Stacy, with the goal of exploiting her extensive sewing knowledge in a fabric store. (Project Slipcover rides again.) We ended up spending just a little too much time at the Paradise Café to squeeze in a visit to the fabric store, but then again, I don't believe you can spend too much time at the Paradise (it was our first visit & Blake was enthralled with the fish & turtle tank). And our failure to keep on schedule only means that we get to see Stacy again real soon. I hardly think that's motivation to keep on time!

I had a hair appointment at noon, but we ended up getting horrendously lost and I was in tears by the time I found the right salon. Fortunately, my stylist was understanding and she was able to fit me in during someone else's cancellation. And she was excellent. Finally, a professional who understands my wash & go lifestyle! Good Christ, if I manage to shower I'm having a good day, let alone go through the whole hokeypokey of mousse & a hairdryer. But she guaranteed her place in my heart when she opined that any haircut that needed lots of product & styling is a bad haircut. The cut she gave me is perfect: a messy pixie that looks fantastic with styling and acceptable without. I'm so glad we didn't go home in frustration!

Saturday night was Opera Sarah's bachelorette party, so I got all tarted up in my mod dress & new hair for a night of non-alcoholic fun! (Well, she is pregnant.) The Boy was supposed to go to the stag party, but we didn't know where that was, so he just came with me. He was more than repayed for his slight social embarassment of being the only stag at a doe party when Lane & Orion sailed in. The Boy has become the biggest baby hog in the world; ever since we had Blake, he dives right in with other babies and has to be gently encouraged to let other people have a turn. When we eventually pried Orion out of his arms, the Boy left for a night of drinking & semi-whoring. Fun.

At the party we feasted on hors-d'oeuvres & built up mad, cackling hen party energy. Orion was passed around and Lane shared her birth story. Gwendolyn took the opportunity to share her most recent doctor's diagnosis: "Congratulations, you have gall stones. And you're pregnant." (I can hardly believe that in a year's time Blake'll be the old man of a playgroup!) By the time we left for El Convento Rico, we were a force to be reckoned with.

I've never been to ECR before, despite its location a mere block away from my old house Hippie Hell. I had a fantastic time: watching magnificent salsa dancers, dancing to Prince & almost getting dragged off the dance floor by two amorous strangers, drinking an expensive but classy Cosmopolitan, talking to girls I hardly ever see these days, and just soaking in the pounding intensity of the club. There was a drag show after midnight (my first), and I was fascinated with the way the two performers alternately embraced and humiliated the mundanes who were brave enough to come dance on stage. Noizangel and Opera Sarah did us all proud in that regard; my girls command us some respect.

The end of the night was marred by a missed connection that had me waiting an hour at Sarah & Leo's, but even that couldn't spoil my glow. Sarah & I talked about attachment parenting a mile a minute (inspired by Distracted Diva's entry). By the time the Boy showed up, I was happily into parenting mode again.

Sunday was Thanksgiving dinner at my grandmother's. It was a surprisingly relaxing event. Usually my grandmother drives me round the bend, but she was much much calmer than usual (of course, you'd never know that if you'd just met her!). Blake was calm, cute & inquisitive, making up for all of the times he's slept through his visit with GreatGrandmother. And I got to eat like a nursing mother, a.k.a. everything that wasn't nailed down. Yeep!

blake eats his pulverized turkey in an improvised highchair
while wolverine...uh...i mean nic looks on.

And yesterday we did it all over again at Father Silverthumb's house with Scout & her boy. An astounding amount of food was prepared & eaten, as you can well imagine. I love visiting their house; I just hate sniffling with my cat allergies. Alas, this is the kind of dramatic tension that is wonderful in a novel & sucky in real life.

blake & grandma kay

blake & scout help wish grandpa duck a happy birthday

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- Rocketbride's adventure of 10/12/2004 09:23:00 p.m.