Overall, things went well. Yes, it was a very long weekend, but adrenaline carried me through. We had a lovely dinner on Friday night at a great Venezuelan place, so things got off to a good start. Everyone was in good spirits and genuinely happy to see each other. GH's parents knew they had a few days with us, so they held off on the lecturing. I admit that my heart sank when I saw the amount of luggage that GH's parents had brought. (One of my biggest annoyances with them is the monumental amounts of STUFF they give us that we don't need, never use, and have to figure out how to dispose of in an Earth-friendly manner.) But it was Friday night and I was willing to look beyond that and enjoy the rosy glow of the weekend.
Saturday morning, my dad and I got up (relatively) early and went to the Mass Mothers of Twins Yard Sale. (Aside: why the organization isn't the Mass PARENTS of Twins is a mystery to me and something I find kind of annoying/disturbing.) This event made me want to kill someone. Crowds of people basically pushing and shoving trying to get "the good stuff" before anyone else. Oy, the head spins! I got us some babyproofing equipment, an exersaucer, and one of those things that seems to be called a gymini (?), a thing kind of like this:
A worthwhile trip, but stressful.
Then came the baby furniture shopping. It was actually fun! The store we went to, Baby Furniture Warehouse, was awesome. It was totally my kind of place, a well-organized warehouse space with tons of choice, no high-pressure sales, and reasonable prices. And the staff was amazing. Right there when you needed them but not bugging you all the time. And they totally knew what they were talking about. We ended up with this crib and dresser, plus a glider rocker:
I had wanted lighter wood for the crib and dresser, but we liked this style a lot and there was no lighter wood to be had. It will be fine.
Things did get a little stressful Saturday afternoon when GH's parents, my dad, and I hung around the condo while GH napped. We had tea, chatted, and then the in-laws starting unpacking the massive amounts of stuff from the suitcases. Tea! Herbal supplements! Pots and pans! More tea! Plastic basins for soaking feet! Watercolor paintings (2)! Pages torn from Korean magazines! Snack food! And the list goes on. I got the full-court press on what I needed to make GH eat, make GH drink, cook for GH, etc. I confess that at this point, I nearly lost it. Between seeing all that stuff in my space and dealing with the implication that what GH and I were doing was wrong, I got very stressed out. But I held it together, made it through dinner, and then GH and I skipped out to the BSO concert.
The concert was absolutely amazing. I've been a season ticket holder at the Boston Symphony for six years now, and this was one of the top two concerts I've ever seen. The opening piece, which I didn't know, was gorgeous and built around a lovely oboe solo, which made me happy. Joshua Bell was a total showstopper, a real talent worthy of all the recognition he gets. And finishing with a Brahms symphony is always OK with me as he's my favorite composer. It was truly fantastic. The only negative was sitting next to a total sourpuss of a man who was there alone and who bit his nails obsessively the whole concert. Gross. Luckily the music took my mind off of him.
Two other notable things about the concert. (1) There were tons of teenagers there. I assume they were by and large kids who play in youth orchestra or school orchestra who were drawn there by Joshua Bell. I loved to see teens at the symphony. It makes me think of myself as a teenager, and I was so glad to that there were so many parents to feed their kids' interest in classical music. As always, it bothered me that it was almost all white kids, presumably rich (cheapest tickets = $46). But they were there, and so excited, and that made me happy.
Noteworthy item (2): the twins LOVED the concert. They were incredibly active during the violin concerto, and moved quite a bit during the Brahms, too. I have read that they can hear now, which seems incredible to me, but based on their reaction to the concert, I now believe it. I'm not going to put headphones on my belly, but I am going to start playing more music in the house.
And now the house is back to normal, all the gifts put away or thrown away or what have you. Windows are open and the sun is shining. I'm going to make buttermilk biscuits to satisfy a craving that both GH and I are having. And maybe, just maybe, I'll quiet my mind enough to sit in the sun, read a book, and just enjoy our home.
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3 comments:
I'm glad you survived the weekend with the inlaws. It must be really hard to hear them questioning everything you guys are doing to take care of GH.
The gymini and the exersaucer will both come in handy. I also got a lot of use out of the bouncy seat and the baby bjorn. We bought a lot of good used stuff from garage sales and craigslist.
I like the furniture.
I'm glad you survived! Whether GH had cancer or not his parents would probably be giving you the 'right' things to feed him. My in-laws do that all the time. Don't let them make you feel guilty or 'wrong', you're doing fine.
We also went to the BSO on Saturday (Baltimore that is)! They have a Symphony with a Twist series we've attended for three years now. The middle piece was called "Hell's Angels" by Michael Daugherty, a modern American composer. In it a rebel gang of bassoonists take over the orchestra. Literally. The orchestra starts playing and you hear people talking and yelling, then strutting down the side ailses, dressed in black leather with bandanas and leather caps come 4 bassoon players. It was hilarious to see them jamming on stage. They also played the complete version of Stravinsky's Firebird. I love seeing music live. I'm a sucker for the rhythm section; my crush on the little old man who plays the timpani makes Jrex roll his eyes.
OTRgirl,
Love the story about the rebel bassoonists. Bassoonists need a reason to cut loose once in a while--it's not an instrument typically associated with "jamming." Hilarious! In grad school, I dated a guy who played bass in a rock band. He couldn't understand why I wouldn't just pull my oboe out sometimes and, you know, JAM. Just not the way my mind works, I guess. Too much rigid classical training.
My crush is on the English horn player. I once met him at a local restaurant and was so star-struck I could barely speak. GH could not stop laughing at me. Thank goodness he was there to hold up some conversation and pick me up off the floor.
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