January, You Kinda Sucked.

And you're not even over yet! *knock wood*

First, it was the advent of the puking sickness. I never thought that something so small could vomit so profusely and so often! There was the night that Gabby had a coughing fit, and threw up a little. Forunately, Daddy was right there with his open, cupped hand to catch the mess. As soon as it happened, Gabby looks at it and proclaims, "Whoa!" I bust out laughing, but Bill sits there with this stricken, yet horrified look on his face as he screams for a  towel.

Then, I sneak out one night to deliver some home-cooked deliciousness to my friends with the newborn. You remember her, the one who is not a pre-existing condition? Anyhoo, I decide that I'm out for the evening anyway and go catch Sherlock Holmes (great movie). I get home around 12:30 and I hear, "MOMMY!" as I peek into the bedroom. Gabby comes flying at me, and we go snuggle on the couch since Bill reports that she didn't seem to be feeling well that evening. He comes out to check on us a little while later, and she runs to him... and projectile vomits all over him. Cue the stricken yet horrified look, add a little frantic, and you have a caricature of his face. Gabby starts to wail, so I take her from him and get a layer of shirt off only to have her projectile puke all over me!! Let me tell you: 7-hour old mac and cheese does not smell good. We take turns showering at 1 AM, and try to go to bed, but Gab is really not good tonight. She has, however, by the second (third?) round of vomiting learned to indicate that it's coming by wailing and holding her mouth. Poor punpkin; we've all been there. This happens a few more times that night, but of course Daddy sleeps through a couple of rounds. Bleh. The next day, she's totally fine barring a diminished appetite.

Bill gets sick on Monday (?) night, but at least he makes it to the bathroom to empty his stomach's contents. It's awesome. I provide him with extra blankets, a bucket with some water in it, and a jug of water. 

Tuesday morning rolls around and I'm thinking Bill is okay to be left alone since he attempted to go into work at 4 AM (his normal time) and I harassed him (there may have been some cussing, I won't lie) into keeping his lame ass at home. I take Gabby to daycare. Apparently I've forgotten that Gabby indicates when she's about to blow because I pick her up when she cries and holds her mouth, only to get rained on by regurgitated oatmeal and milk. Since this hasn't been in her stomach too long, it's not as nasty-smelling, but I gag all the same. The more experienced daycare providers managed not to get spattered but gamely help me clean up. Le sigh. We turn around and go home, where I call out sick. On the way back home, I stop off at Burger King for a Bad Breakfast to help me forget my Bad Morning. Order placed, money paid, waiting for food at drive-through and... projectile vomit. You mean to tell me there was MORE fucking oatmeal in there? Ugh. The little stinker seems fine because no sooner than the last chunk is spewed than she starts asking for chicken nuggets -- after all, we are at Burger King.

We make it home, get all of our accumulated spattered clothing off, and Gabby proceeds to run all over the house like she never had an upset stomach.

Think that's all the vomit for one week, eh? Nope.  We go visit Uncle Michael, and to reward her for good behavior, we stop by Wendy's for chicken nuggets. Cue wail, mouth holding. This time, I have a receptacle handy and get 90% of the  apple, french toast, and juice that comes back to visit into the bowl. I bust a hasty U-turn at the drive through and get home. Bill greets us with towels and Clorox wipes; Gabby and I strip down, shower, and take a nap.

By now I'm thinking that me and January are done. We're not friends. January is apparently not done with me, 'cause I pass half of last week waiting for Death to come claim me and release me from the pain of the first (diagnosed) attack of strep throat I've had in five years. At least I got some good drugs out of it.

Crisis in Haiti

On Tuesday, January 12, Haiti was rocked by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake. Thousands are feared dead. Read more about the story as it has unfolded here.

What can you do to help? If you're in Trinidad or the Caribbean, my cousin Afro Chic has provided this link to Is There Not A Cause? In the United States, you also have many options, provided courtesy of NPR:

-- The State Department's DipNote blog writes that "for those interesting in helping immediately, simply text 'HAITI' to '90999' and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill. Or you can go online to organizations like the Red Cross and Mercy Corps Mercy Corps to make a contribution to the disaster relief efforts."

-- The American Red Cross has posted more information about its efforts and how to donate here.

-- Mercy Corps' online donations page is here.

-- It's Just Light, a blog by photographer Nick Zantop, has collected a long list of aid organizations and how to donate money to them here.

-- CBSNews.com has its list of aid groups here.

-- Musician Wyclef Jean, who's from Haiti, says if you text "Yele" to 501501, you'll automatically be donating $5 to the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund. The charge will show up on your phone bill. You can find out more about Yele here.

Felicitations!

or, Fun and Games While You're In Labor.

I know that many of you think, periodically, that I have taken leave of my senses. But I wanted to give you some perspective, given some of the people that I hang with in real life. Keep in mind, this is entertaining at the end, even though it is MADNESS!

If you recall, while I was in labor, I went to my doctor's office and he sent me to the hospital. However, my cell phone was dead, and I realized that I had left my only charger at the office. It was a holiday and the office wasn't too far away. Think of it this way: you have a straight line (pretty much) that's about 15 miles long, office is on one end, hospital at the other, and they're 25 minutes apart by car. Doctor's office is pretty much in the middle. I saw nothing wrong with it. I made Bill drive me to go get my cell charger. I leave a note for my intern, and head off to the hospital. 

K pwns me. 

My friend K is due around January 2nd-ish. I get a text from her on Saturday at 11:30-ish: How do you know you're in labor? Because my cell phone doesn't usually come into the house with me, I didn't get this text until 5 hours later, and I called her back. She's checking into the hospital. Turns out, in the intervening 5 hours, she hadn't just sat around waiting to go to the hospital. Oh no...

She needed a couple of items still for the baby's room, so she and her fiancee hop in the car and go shopping in Georgetown (about 10 minutes, in traffic, from the hospital).There was also an incident where they drove past Joe Lieberman -- yes, that Joe Lieberman -- and his wife, Hadassah. She rolled down the window and yelled at him: I AM NOT A PRE-EXISTING CONDITION! They circle the block and come back around, and she yells at him again. I FREAKING LOVE THIS WOMAN!!

Then they went to the hospital. 6 hours, an epidural, and 25 minutes of pushing  later, she had a healthy baby girl, 7 pounds, 4 ounces, and GORGEOUS! This gal is going to be such a diva. She is beautiful, looks just like daddy, and is so serene. I think she's going to give Gabs a run for her money in the cuteness department, also being halfsies, but we'll settle that with a rib-eating contest in a couple of years. 

Congrats!!

Happy New Decade!

What a decade this past one was! Pretty eventful in this little stretch of the woods. The decade in review...

2000. After Y2K's pending disaster proves to be a non-starter, we move into our new house in Bowie and were promptly greeted by close to a foot of snow. Being new homeowners, we had no shovel. Then a snow plough came through our cul-de-sac, and not realizing that the house was occupied, ploughed a  six-foot snow drift in front of our driveway. It was awesome sauce. The neighbors dug us out, we shared our beer.
This year also marked my first trip to Europe: Paris, Madrid, Barcelona. Loads of fun even though the company was interesting to say the least -- it was a group school trip. Later that year, I said good-bye to by babies Lauren, Sean, Jamie, and Zach, and went on to work at Chevy Chase Bank. I also started at American University that fall. Not a terribly eventful year -- other than the travesty of Bush being elected. Travesty. Such a minor word for what he did to this country...

2001. Motoring along at CCB and at AU, September 11 rolls around. It was a beautiful fall morning, and we were ensconced in the bank, preparing to open, when a courier comes in just before nine (between when we arrive and when the doors open, we literally have zero contact with the outside world except through phones) and tells us that a plane flew into the World Trade Center. We dismiss him as having inhaled too many fumes or the victim of a prank. When we open the doors a few minutes later, we're greeted with the full horror of the terrorist attack. Needless to say, very little work is done as every person listens to  the rampant rumors and inherent chaos. We're dismissed from work early that day, and a couple of days later, while in the middle of a History class, some dumbass decides to take advantage of the uncertainty of everything to phone in a bomb threat to the campus. I hope that stupid f-er got kicked out. People were scared out of their minds already and it was made worse by this moron. Amid the fear and uncertainty of 2001, we ring in the next year, glad to see the back of 2001, but not sure what's going to happen next!

2002. Errr... a blur. More of the same? I continue at AU and Chevy Chase Bank. That summer, I meet, seemingly by chance, a future good friend. She seems a little off her rocker, but I like that crazy Latina. Time to move on to 2003...

2003. I decide that my academic future will be in Cuba for  three weeks. Barring one mother of a crazy roommate, the trip was a lot of fun and quite the learning experience. This is also the spring where I was at a job fair, and while waiting for the line at the DoD to get smaller, strike up a conversation with Denise and Sybil at the table for some place named EMILY's List. Guess I was supposed to be there; six months and an internship later, Cheryl and I were shaking on "giving a job a try for six months or so..." I gleefully resign from Chevy Chase Bank and fall into the seamy underbelly of fundraising. This was also the semester that I was sitting next to this girl in a class and we strike up conversation, thinking that we both knew each other from somewhere. Turns out to be the Crazy Latina. We go on to many adventures.

2004. I am kinda bitten by the canvassing bug. There was South Carolina in February, South Dakota in May, Tampa in August (horrible idea, but another good friend found!). Boston Convention, and an ah-mazing speech by some guy named Barack Obama. I turn to Tiffany and Amy and say that guy should run for president someday. We celebrated that evening by crashing a few delegate parties and running into Jerry Springer. Overall, a successful evening, but I do NOT recommend flying with a hangover. This is also the year of Air EMILY to Palm Beach in November. Despite heroic efforts on many fronts, Bush is re-elected. I'm much more disheartened by Betty Castor's Senate loss, but that doesn't stop an "EMILY". This was also the year that closed out with  the South Asian tsunami disaster!

2005. Diana -- aka Crazy Latina -- and I, along with a few other people are turning 30. We decide to go on a trip to New Orleans in August. Turns out to be the weekend of Katrina! Horrific doesn't even to begin to describe the events that unfold on tv screens across the country, as people watch, horrified as Bush remains on vacation as the city falls to pieces. Becca, Colleen, and Kate join the staff at EL and, along with our occasional pal Julia, we turn happy hour into an art. You know when the bouncer at Mackey's lets you in without carding you that you're a regular. I also begin to report to Jamie and Barb, still on the top ten Best Supervisors Evar!

2006. The summer that my office spouse, Amy, and I snuck out to go to Mackey's to watch World Cup Soccer. I'm also allowed to roam the country for the purposes of work, which turns out to be waaaaay more fun than I ever thought it could be! I <3 my phone fundraisers. I also <3/miss the days of pulling in $850K on the phones in just 4 weeks. I don't get to go out on the road for Election Day, but it was worth it to hang out at the office and watch returns.

2007. Starts out with a bang! Amy, my office spouse, and I go to Zanzibar for Yvette Clark's inauguration party, and she gets to meet many many many crazy Caribbean people who chartered buses to come down to DC from Brooklyn for the festivities. Jen joins the Happy Hour HoneysThis was the summer that I thought there was something seriously wrong with me, I was so damned tired all the time. Then, one quiet afternoon, I start counting backwards in my head and say, "Oh shit." It was not enough to pee on the stick three times, but I had to have a doctor confirm it. 7 1/2 months later, Gabby graces us with her presence! Gabby had a fetal name though, helpfully supplied at the TalkCSI Board Meetup by Deb, Kristine, Rhonda, Rachel, et al: Bailey. Knowing my affection for the alcymahol, we decided that the baby would be fed Bailey's Irish Creme as formula, and tried to devise a way that I would drink enough to turn my breastmilk into Bailey's. I join an online community founded by the people behind What to Expect when You're Expecting and meet a fabulous group of mamas who have kids about the same age as my own. This was also the year of weddings: Colleen and Boge; Erica and Mike; Ha-hoa and Eric; Maria and Charlie; Diana and Lee; Barb and Matt. Ha-hoa had the best shower by far, it coming out that she "has a stick up her ass." That is STILL funny!

2008. A year of highs and lows. In February, I have a baby cut out of me give birth to my daughter Gabrielle. She immediately turns on the charm that remains her trademark to this day. Gabby meets Ellen R. Malcolm at the EL Cinco de Drinko Mayo party, and sticks her tongue out at her -- twice! That's when we knew for sure that she was a keeper.  I return to work in the summer... and that's all I'll say about that summer of work. The primary war between Barack and Hillary gets very... intense, but we all know how that ended. I still love Hillary Clinton's very classy concession and her later speech at the Convention in Denver. Tiffany and I didn't get to go. We may or may not still be bitter. At the end of summer, my mother advises me that my Aunt Margaret's health is steadily declining, and she really wanted to meet Gabby. I arrange to hop on a plane and go visit the family in Trinidad for a few days. While it seemed like the universe was conspiring against my getting there and back with a 7-month old traveler strapped to my torso, I'm really happy I was able to get there. Auntie Margaret died a few days after the historic presidential election, so the year didn't end on the best note, personally. I did get the chance to go to New Hampshire to canvass for Jeanne Shaheen, Carol Shea-Porter, and that guy who won the presidential election... Our van, the Punisher, was made of win, and Denise and Maren organized the best canvassing operation I've ever had privilege to participate in. Election Night needs no description -- photos of Jen and Kaiya say it all.

2009. I skip the Inauguration Madness and watch from the warmth of my home, Gabby in her pearls and t-shirt from Auntie Tiff proclaiming her to be a "Future Princess President." About a month later, I say so long to EL after almost 6 years -- from intern to manager -- and say hello to Defenders of Wildlife. This place may break me, and many days I question my sanity, but I kinda like it. I don't do quiet, and it suits my personality. After having sent her many picture texts and a framed photo of her and Gabby, Kate calls me up on day to ask me if I was psychic, 'cause she was pregnant! She was the first... turns out, this is the year to get pregnant. I may be missing a few people, but among those who either give birth or get pregnant in 2009: Diana, Emily, Ha-Hoa, Kate, Laura, Jayme, Taleaha, Erika, Jen C., Britt, Tamara, Melissa. Way to close out the decade!

Happy New Year!!!