Moments
The weekend was a whirl, but there were some memorable moments, for sure.
At the birthday party, Baby Z didn’t give me the stink eye. Not once. [Note: Baby Z and I have had a rocky relationship these first two years. For the last year or so, she looks at me and literally gives me the stink eye. Not getting the evil look is progress, huge progress.] During the birthday party, when I was taking some photos, she showed interest in seeing the photos I just took of her. And, as we were getting ready to leave and she was in her mama’s arms, she actually leaned over to kiss me goodbye. At brunch on Sunday, Baby Z threw a ball with me. On more than one occasion. Held my hand and walked down the hallway with me. And as she was leaving and I asked her for a hug and kiss goodbye (usually met with the stink eye), she walked over, gave me high five and kissed me. I’m telling you, for this weekend at least, we turned the corner. It was huge.
Sweets’ parents drove us to and from Baby Z’s party on Saturday. On the way home, Sweets noticed some pedestrians about half a block ahead who were approaching the intersection. He turned to his dad and said, “They’re not going to stop.” His dad’s response? “Neither am I.” It was hilarious. (No, we did not hit any pedestrians. We didn’t come close to hitting them. It was the imagery that was so funny.) Later, I told my maid of honor the story. She turned to Sweets and said, “You’re exactly like your father!”
On the way home from Baby Z’s party, I see Sweets get all excited in the front seat and simultaneously yell, “There he is! HIT HIM!” What on earth was he talking about? I looked out the window and realized why he was up in arms. It was the former Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich, running on the opposite side of the street. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the guy running; he doesn’t live far from us. Only, this time he was running without a security detail and didn’t seem to care to smile at cars driving by him.
I might have yelled at my mom at least once over the weekend. She nonchalantly said, “Dexter has cancer.” I yelled, “DON’T TELL ME THAT!! We don’t watch the show until it comes out on Netflix! I don’t want to know the storyline yet!” That’s when she explained the actor who plays Dexter (Michael C Hall) has cancer. I immediately apologized. At least I knew that when Sweets asked why he was wearing a cap at the Golden Globes. It all makes sense now.
When my uncle arrived at brunch, we had the following conversation:
Uncle: One of the buzzers to your building says Ling*. My doctor’s name is Ling.
Nilsa: Oh yeah? Our upstairs neighbor is a doctor.
Uncle: Lester Ling, that’s my doctor.
Nilsa: Really? Lester is our upstairs neighbor. What a small world!
* Names have been changed
In a city of almost 3 million, it turns out our upstairs neighbor is my uncle’s doctor. Small world. Very small.
January 19th, 2010 at 8:49 am
Very small indeed. This weekend I had a message from a friend of a friend, telling me she heard I went bowling with my Sweet’s colleagues on Friday, because her brother was the son of Sweet’s boss. SMALL WORLD!! :)
January 19th, 2010 at 8:55 am
Kids are tricky, that’s for sure. My youngest decided as a baby that he didn’t like my father in law. He just turned six and he FINALLY will talk to him. There was no reason for this and my FIL felt awful but there was nothing I could do. I’m glad Baby Z is warming up to you!
January 19th, 2010 at 9:09 am
Small, yes. There is a woman who goes to my yoga studio who is the ex wife of my best friend’s father in law. This same woman has a niece that practices at the studio. The niece is married to a man who works in the same office as another woman who goes to the studio. The work woman is a woman whom I knew years ago, and was in fact the only person I knew in my first class.
We are really all connected and would do well to remember as much, no?
January 19th, 2010 at 9:09 am
So I take it you guys didn’t hit Blagojevich? Maybe just throw some rotten eggs his way? No?
I love the show Dexter and when I heard he had cancer, I was just very saddened. I hope he improves, gets better and kicks the crap out of cancer!
January 19th, 2010 at 9:17 am
Crazy what a small world it can be sometimes.
I had to laugh about both Sweets Dad and Sweets talking/thinking about hitting pedestrians and Rod B. Kind of funny.
I had no idea that Michael C. Hall has cancer. The C -word is popping up much to often lately and I am not a fan. (Well, who would be? But you know what I mean!)
Glad to hear Baby Z is warming up to you!
January 19th, 2010 at 9:25 am
It is a small world, I used to work with a man who was married to a woman I worked with at another job.
I haven’t seen Rod B in ages, I see our alderman all over the place and last week at our local bar, I came close to having a not so nice chat. He actually avoids us because the Hubs went up to him once and asked him some questions about the potholes, the police etc. so when he sees us he walks in a different direction.
Gotta love Chicago politics.
January 19th, 2010 at 9:48 am
I’m like your mom, I keep going around saying “DEXTER HAS CANCER!!!!” and then people look at me like I have super-spoilers. Michael C. Hall is just always Dexter to me, which is a bit weird since he’s actually married to the woman that plays his sister.
January 19th, 2010 at 10:11 am
There he is! Hit him!
HA! Your post had me laughing. I once met Blago when he was up for re-election and the only thing I really thought was “Damn your hair is huge and you have unusually large pores!”
Also, I usually just make babies cry- wish I could upgrade to the stink eye!
January 19th, 2010 at 10:18 am
In college we had this awful dean who made everyone’s lives hell, and I had some personal conflict with her as I was the president of the debate team and she was trying to avoid giving us funding. Then one day I was driving down the road and she stepped into a crosswalk in front of me. And I am not even kidding when I say that my first impulse, truly my instinct, was to accelerate right into her. Luckily I didn’t do it. But oh, it was tempting.
January 19th, 2010 at 10:23 am
I’d run him down too.
January 19th, 2010 at 10:33 am
Very, very small world! Crazy stuff like that seems to happen all the time.
I love the Baby Z story. For some reason kids normally gravitate toward me – I think they sense that I am not much more mature than they are. But every once in a while a meet a kid who wants nothing to do with me and I hate it.
January 19th, 2010 at 11:17 am
Such a small world!!
And I almost shouted at you over the Dexter reference as I still need to watch the show!! But, in all seriousness, I had no idea Michael C. Hall had cancer until I was watching Golden Globes coverage. I’m finishing up Six Feet Under right now…I love him!
January 19th, 2010 at 11:51 am
so sad about dexter! ha, michael c hall. sounds like he is doing well though.
glad you had an amusing weekend!
January 19th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
I am glad that Baby Z is warming up to you. The story about Sweets and his dad is classic. It sounds like something that I would say (but no, I wouldnt hit them either). I don’t watch Dexter, but that is sad about Michael C Hall. ITs funny that you yelled at your mom for telling you. =)
January 19th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
oh hooray for baby z love!! i bet it’ll stick.. once a kid decides he or she likes you, you’re generally IN :-)
ha, i yell at my dad all the time about spoilery things, except his actually ARE all spoilers. the worst part is he preferences it with “no it’s ok, this won’t ruin anything! i just wanted to say how funny it is that during the huge finale where [inportant detail that was supposed to be a surprise] happens, the main guy was listening to simon & garfunkel! and i love simon & garfunkel!” sigh. oh dad.
January 19th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
I cracked up at the stink eye business! My best bud’s little girl gives folks the same kinda look; it’s hilarious! Love that Baby Z warmed up to you, though!
January 19th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
No kidding about the small world. When we moved to Chicago we ended up in the same building as one of the men who was on the committee that hired Ricky! In a city this size with God knows how many buildings we could have lived in, we’re neighbors with one of the people responsible for bringing us here? Crazy!!
And loved the pedestrian conversation between your husband and father-in-law. Hilarious!
January 19th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
If you were going to hit a pedestrian, I think Rod would’ve been the one to get. Although, all that hair would probably protect him from receiving any serious damage.
The world is small. I love that.
January 19th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Ha! Again with the connections, I love it!
My city is so small that it seems like if you talk to anyone for 10 minutes you will have a friend, workplace, or relative in common. New people are hard to find in these parts, but it’s really nice to be known.
January 19th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
When I visited China, a woman in a Beijing shop (another customer) kindly helped us figure out the Chinese zodiac animals. A week later we ran into the same woman in a Shanghai Starbucks. Small world indeed.
January 19th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Aren’t Govenors like, a zillion points if you hit them?
January 19th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
Even in Chicago it’s a small world. Amazing how that works out :)
January 21st, 2010 at 1:23 am
Those were all very cute moments :)